By: Derek Hawkins//November 18, 2019//
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Case Name: Lisa Ulrey v. William Reichhart, et al.
Case No.: 19-1221
Officials: SYKES, HAMILTON, and SCUDDER, Circuit Judges.
Focus: Due Process Violation
Plaintiff Lisa Ulrey served as the assistant principal of the Manchester Junior-Senior High School until November 4, 2014, when she resigned during a meeting with William Reichhart, the school district’s superintendent. Ulrey brings two claims in this suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Reichhart and the school board. First, she claims that Reichhart violated her rights under the First Amendment by retaliating against her for her speech about a student discipline issue. Second, she contends that the defendants violated her Fourteenth Amendment rights by coercing her to resign, depriving her of her property interest in her job without due process of law. The district court granted summary judgment to the defendants on both claims. We affirm. Undisputed facts show that Ulrey spoke about the discipline issue in her capacity as an employee, so the First Amendment did not protect her speech. Ulrey also failed to present evidence sufficient to support a finding that her resignation was involuntary.
Affirmed