Opinion ID: 747631
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Jacqueline M. Hall

Text: 21 Prior to her termination in 1994, plaintiff Hall had worked as food service supervisor in the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department since she was hired by Sheriff Elmore in 1992. Her duties included: managing the kitchen, cafeteria, and laundry facilities; planning and budgeting for the menu; purchasing supplies and keeping records of expenditures; and overseeing the preparation of meals for the prisoners and employees fed by the Cumberland County justice system. When defendant was sworn in as sheriff, the food service department had a budget of $50,000. In the first two months of the fiscal year prior to defendant taking office, Hall had spent $12,600 of the budgeted amount. 22 Plaintiff Hall argues that defendant did not rehire her because she supported defendant's campaign opponents. She testified at deposition that her husband, who was also employed in the sheriff's department, told defendant that he and his wife would be supporting Sheriff Elmore in the primary. Hall stated that when she talked to people about defendant's opponent in the general election, she told them that she had known him since grammar school, that she thought he was a fine upstanding man, that he had been a good law enforcement officer, and that she thought he would make a good sheriff. Although she encouraged these people to vote for York, she never told anyone that she was going to vote for York in the general election. She also testified at deposition that she never attended any political rallies or gave any money to the general election campaigns of either candidate. In her brief, plaintiff Hall states that [h]er husband also told Tollett that he would be voting for Tollett but that plaintiff Hall would be voting for York in the general election. Although plaintiff Hall testified at deposition that her husband conveyed his support to defendant, nothing in the record supports a conclusion that plaintiff Hall's husband ever told defendant that plaintiff Hall supported or would vote for York in the general election. 23 The District Court granted summary judgment to defendant, finding that even if defendant had fired Hall for her political affiliation, there was no constitutional violation because political loyalty was an appropriate requirement of the food supervisor position. We affirm the District Court's grant of summary judgment on different grounds. We find that plaintiff Hall has failed to set forth evidence that is sufficient to support a conclusion defendant knew or had reason to know of her support for Avery York in the general election. Without such evidence, she has failed to raise a genuine issue as to whether she was fired in retaliation for her support for defendant's political opponents. We do not reach the question of whether the duties of Hall's position entailed the type of duties and responsibilities that would except her from protection against termination based upon political affiliation.