Prima Facie – 1st Amendment Violation – Retaliation Claim

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Beth A. Sweet v. Town of Bargersville, et al.,

Case No.: 20-2061

Officials: SYKES, Chief Judge, and BRENNAN and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Prima Facie – 1^st Amendment Violation – Retaliation Claim

After a steady buildup of performance problems, Beth Sweet lost her job as a customer-service representative in the clerk-treasurer’s office in the Town of Bargersville, Indiana. Several months before she was fired, Sweet criticized Steve Longstreet, the elected clerk-treasurer, for reconnecting the utility service of a delinquent customer who happened to be Longstreet’s wealthy business partner. Sweet contends that she was fired for vocalizing her opposition to the reconnection, so she sued Longstreet and the Town alleging a claim of retaliation in violation of her First Amendment right to freedom of speech. Her evidence in support of retaliatory motive is paltry—“suspicious timing” in the form of a five-month gap between her criticism and the termination of her employment; an ambiguous affidavit from a fellow employee; and the fact that her former employer offered several reasons for her termination rather than a single, consistent explanation. The district court held that Sweet failed to establish a prima facie case of retaliation and entered summary judgment for the defendants. We affirm.

Affirmed
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Derek A Hawkins is Corporate Counsel, at Salesforce.