Opinion ID: 747631
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Eddie Hedgecoth

Text: 24 Prior to his discharge in 1994, plaintiff Hedgecoth had served as a deputy in the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department for eighteen years. During that period he served as Sheriff Elmore's chief deputy on two separate occasions. As chief deputy, he assumed the sheriff's duties in the sheriff's absence, supervised the deputies, scheduled their shifts, and recommended employees for dismissal to the sheriff. After defendant was elected sheriff, plaintiff Hedgecoth submitted an application for employment as a deputy sheriff in the new administration, but was not rehired. Plaintiff argues that defendant fired him because he supported defendant's political opponents. Defendant testified at deposition that he terminated Hedgecoth because he needed to have full trust in his chief deputy, and felt he could not trust Hedgecoth because he had been associated with the several administrations down through the years. 25 In response to defendant's motion for summary judgment, plaintiff Hedgecoth relies on the following evidence as factual support for his allegations. He testified at deposition that he supported York during the general campaign and told this to his family members and plaintiff Hall. At deposition, he claimed that he handed out cards in support of York for a couple of hours at a polling station, but he also admitted that while he was there, he never saw defendant. He stated that his political activities also included attending one of defendant's campaign barbecues, where he spoke with defendant and defendant's wife for approximately twenty minutes. He never displayed any signs, stickers, or other manifestations of support for York, nor attended any of York's campaign rallies. 26 The District Court granted defendant's motion for summary judgment against plaintiff Hedgecoth, because it found both that plaintiff had put forth scant evidence that his political support and affiliation motivated his discharge, and that the position of chief deputy fell within the Branti /Elrod exception to First Amendment protection against politically-motivated termination. We affirm the District Court's order granting summary judgment. The evidence that plaintiff Hedgecoth put forth shows only minimal political activity and does not support an inference that defendant knew of his political affiliation in the general election. It consists entirely of his own testimony that he spent two hours passing out cards at a polling station and that he told his family members and plaintiff Hall that he supported York. Under these circumstances, he has failed to raise a genuine question of whether he was discharged because of his political affiliation. 27 It is also clear to us that political affiliation is an appropriate requirement for the effective performance of the chief deputy position. Branti 445 U.S. at 518, 100 S.Ct. at 1294. Plaintiff Hedgecoth testified at deposition that, as the chief deputy, he performed the sheriff's duties whenever the sheriff is off-duty or unavailable, supervised deputies, and recommended employees for dismissal to the sheriff. We find that defendant was entitled to select a person whom he knew to share his political beliefs to occupy a position with such high levels of discretion and policymaking authority. We conclude, therefore, that the position of chief deputy falls within the Branti /Elrod exception to First Amendment protection against patronage-based dismissals. 4