Qualified Immunity

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Dawn Hanson, et al., v. Chris LeVan

Case No.: 19-1840

Officials: MANION, KANNE, and WOOD, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Qualified Immunity

For some government jobs, political affiliation is an appropriate position requirement. But that’s generally not the case. And unless political affiliation is an appropriate job requirement, the First Amendment forbids government officials from discharging employees based on their political affiliation. Rutan v. Republican Party of Ill., 497 U.S. 62, 64 (1990) (citing Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347 (1976); Branti v. Finkel, 445 U.S. 507 (1980)).

After stepping into his elected office as Milton Township Assessor, Chris LeVan dismissed a group of employees who were Deputy Assessors, allegedly because they supported his political rival and predecessor. The fired deputies sued LeVan, claiming the terminations violated their First Amendment rights. In a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, LeVan asserted a qualified‐immunity defense. The district court concluded that LeVan is not entitled to qualified immunity at this pleading stage, and LeVan appealed.

We affirm because, taking as true the plaintiffs’ well‐ pleaded allegations about the characteristics of the Deputy Assessor position, a reasonable actor in LeVan’s position would have known that dismissing the deputies based on their political affiliation violated their constitutional rights.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.