Opinion ID: 726710
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Unfair Advantage Theory

Text: 48 As we have already pointed out in our discussion of qualified immunity, the unfair advantage theory comes in two flavors. The state officials are entitled to qualified immunity if any unfair advantage in the permanent hiring process was simply a natural outgrowth of the patronage hiring for the temporary position. However, if the award of the temporary position to Blessing was part of an intentional scheme to evade Rutan's restrictions on filling the permanent position, both the party defendants and the state officials would, in principle, be liable. Thus we must determine whether Tarpley has raised an issue of material fact regarding the existence of such a scheme. 49 The party defendants are, of course, not shielded by qualified immunity and, allegations of a scheme aside, bear the burden of proving that Tarpley was not deprived of the permanent position solely because of the predictable advantage Blessing garnered by filling the interim slot.
50 As evidence of the existence of a scheme, Tarpley points to the fact that the power plant maintenance positions were permanent positions both before and after the temporary appointments were made in 1992; to the fact that an initial request was made for a permanent hire; to the failure to publicize the availability of the permanent position; and to the skewing of the interview process in Blessing's favor. 51 The defendants respond to the allegations of a scheme in three ways: First, they argue that there is no evidence in the record to suggest that prior temporary employment alone--without regard to performance in the job--provides any benefit or advantage for future job opportunities. Def. Br. at 43. This argument fails because, if Blessing was appointed to the temporary position as a means of ensuring him the permanent job, the mere fact that he could have lost the permanent job by not performing well in the temporary position does not cure the First Amendment violation. Rutan does not condone the hiring of political allies into permanent positions on a probationary basis on the rationale that they could lose the job if they botched up the probationary opportunity. If a temporary job is, in reality, a probationary period for a permanent job, the impropriety of awarding it on a patronage basis follows from the ban on patronage hiring for the permanent position. 52 Second, the defendants argue that the court should reject the theory that an unconstitutional path to a prior job taints the experience obtained in that job. Id. at 44-45. The defendants are quite correct that a theory whereby the job performance of any employee who was hired based on political considerations prior to the Supreme Court's Rutan decision on June 21, 1990, should not have been considered in subsequent personnel transactions because they were the beneficiaries of the alleged 'illegal' patronage scheme would be unworkable. Def. Br. at 44. This theory is a straw man, however. Tarpley's theory is much narrower. He argues that this particular temporary hire, made after Rutan, was made in order to place a political ally in a permanent job without appearing to violate Rutan. While the defendants' caricature of Tarpley's theory may not be tenable, Tarpley's actual theory clearly is. 53 Third, the defendants argue that the record is devoid of facts to support plaintiff's claim of a 'scheme' to avoid Rutan. Id. at 48. While we do not agree that the record is devoid of such facts, we do conclude that the facts cited are insufficient. Tarpley has cited a laundry list of facts which he claims could support a circumstantial inference that a scheme existed. These facts, however, taken together, are insufficient to raise an issue of material fact concerning the existence of such a scheme. The circumstantial evidence presented may be sufficient to raise some eyebrows, but it is not sufficient to raise a jury question whether there was a scheme to circumvent Rutan. 54 Since there is not sufficient evidence to resist summary judgment as to the existence of a scheme and since the state officials are immune from suit as to the interim position unless Tarpley could prove such a scheme, summary judgment was correctly granted to the state defendants.2. Unfair Advantage 55 Because the party defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity, Tarpley need not show that the political hiring for the temporary position was part of a deliberate scheme to avoid Rutan in order for them to be liable. As we have already discussed, the patronage hiring for the interim position involved here may have violated the Rutan prohibition in its own right. Tarpley contends that his rights were further infringed by the temporary hire because of the unfair advantage the temporary job inevitably bestowed on Blessing in the contest for the permanent position. Assuming, arguendo, that Tarpley has standing to contest the award of the temporary position, the party defendants will be liable for Tarpley's injury due to this unfair advantage, unless they can raise some other defense, such as failure to act under color of state law. As noted earlier, however, the party defendants made no argument on this point in their summary judgment submissions to the district court. Thus, the grant of summary judgment to the party defendants with respect to the temporary and permanent positions must be reversed.