01-3966 Sonnleitner v. York

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“Under the first prong of this inquiry, we agree with Sonnleitner that the Institute may have violated his procedural due process rights by failing to accord him a predisciplinary hearing on the unenumerated (i.e., the more serious) charges contained in the Bellaire report. However, under the second prong of the qualified immunity analysis, Sonnleitner has failed to establish that this right was clearly established at the time of the alleged violation. Although Sonnleitner need not offer up a federal decision which precisely mirrors the facts of this case, at a minimum he must point to a closely analogous case decided prior to the challenged conduct. See Lawhe v. Simpson, 16 F.3d 1475, 1483 (7th Cir. 1994). Sonnleitner contends that the Supreme Court’s decision in Loudermill clearly established his right to more exhaustive pre-disciplinary proceedings. However, as discussed earlier, Loudermill involved the termination of two public employees without any pre-termination proceedings, and is therefore factually distinguishable from this case. Since Sonnleitner bears the burden of establishing the existence of a clearly established constitutional right, see Rakovich v. Wade, 850 F.2d 1180, 1209 (7th Cir. 1988) (en banc); accord Delgado, 282 F.3d at 516; Forman v. Richmond Police Dep’t, 104 F.3d 950, 957-58 (7th Cir. 1997), and he has failed to cite any additional authorities, we conclude the individual defendants are entitled to qualified immunity.”

Affirmed.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Randa, J., Cudahy, J.