Court Opinion

ID: 9521322
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 02:02:39.764157+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:49:40.295673
License: Public Domain

SILVERMAN, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
I have scoured the complaint and I have drawn all reasonable inferences in plaintiffs favor. Yet I still fail to see where plaintiff has plausibly alleged that anything this particular defendant supposedly did — even assuming he acted unprofessionally, improperly, or overzealously — was in retaliation for the exercise of her First Amendment rights, as opposed to being in furtherance of an investigation into plaintiffs reported misuse of her credentials, an investigation that he was summoned to and did not initiate. Because plaintiff failed to state a plausible constitutional violation, defendant Martin was entitled to qualified immunity. I would reverse the district court’s denial of the motion to dismiss and direct the district court to grant plaintiff leave to amend her complaint.