Opinion ID: 171206
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: First Amendment Employment Retaliation

Text: As with her due process claim, we will not consider the merits of Pignanelli's First Amendment employment retaliation claim. Pignanelli argues for the first time on appeal that she meets the four-step analysis, set forth in Dill v. City of Edmond , for public employees asserting a claim of retaliation for exercising their First Amendment rights. See Dill v. City of Edmond, 155 F.3d 1193, 1201-03 (10th Cir.1998) (citing Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138, 103 S.Ct. 1684, 75 L.Ed.2d 708 (1983); Pickering v. Bd. of Educ., 391 U.S. 563, 88 S.Ct. 1731, 20 L.Ed.2d 811 (1968)). Under Dill, if the public employee's speech involves a matter of public concern, we must balance his or her interest in commenting on such matters against the interest of the government employer in an effective, non-disruptive work environment. Id. By failing to argue Dill in the district court, however, Pignanelli has waived review of the issue in this court. We do not review claims on appeal that were not presented below. Wolfe v. Barnhart, 446 F.3d 1096, 1103 (10th Cir.2006); Rosewood Servs., Inc. v. Sunflower Diversified Servs., Inc., 413 F.3d 1163, 1167 (10th Cir.2005). Pignanelli failed to allege the requirements for a First Amendment employment retaliation claim in her district court complaint, summary judgment briefing in the district court, or at the hearing held by the district court. In fact, as Pignanelli made clear in her summary judgment briefing, the basis of her First Amendment challenge was her election lossnot employment retaliation. See Supp.App. at 35 (Pl.'s Resp. Br. at 1) (This is a First Amendment case about the Defendants' hijacking a school board election.); id. at 66 (Pl.'s Resp. Br. at 32) (Plaintiff's First Amendment claim revolves around her status as a candidate running for the D-60 board of education. Her claim is that the Defendants disclosed confidential information about her to the media, sabotaging and destroying her candidacy.). Because Pignanelli failed to argue her First Amendment employment retaliation claim below, the district court did not have an opportunity to address the claim and we will not consider it for the first time on appeal.