Court Opinion

ID: 9497024
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 16:41:42.153529+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:57:57.601711
License: Public Domain

*820MICHAEL, Circuit Judge,
concurring in the judgment:
Because Matthew Dixon’s complaint asserts only state law claims against his former employer, Coburg Dairy, Inc., I concur in the judgment to remand his case to South Carolina state court. Although some of Dixon’s state law claims refer to the First Amendment, these claims do not “turn[ ] on [a] construction of federal law.” Merrell Dow Pharm. Inc. v. Thompson, 478 U.S. 804, 808, 106 S.Ct. 3229, 92 L.Ed.2d 650 (1986). That is because the First Amendment, as a matter of federal law, does not regulate the conduct of a private employer. See, e.g., Yatvin v. Madison Metro. School Dist., 840 F.2d 412, 420 (7th Cir.1988).