(Download) "Sowards V. Loudon County" by Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals * eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Sowards V. Loudon County
- Author : Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
- Release Date : January 08, 2000
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 67 KB
Description
Wanda Sowards filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Loudon County and the Sheriff of Loudon County Timothy Guider, in his individual and official capacities, claiming that she was terminated from her position as a jailer at the Loudon County Sheriff's Department in retaliation for exercising her First Amendment rights of political and intimate association. Sowards's husband, William Sowards, had run unsuccessfully for sheriff against Guider in early 1994. Guider terminated Sowards's employment in July 1995 allegedly because she missed an outstanding warrant on a person brought into the jail. The district court granted Loudon County and Guider's motion for summary judgment and dismissed the case because it found no genuine issue of material fact existed to show Sowards's constitutionally protected activity substantially motivated Guider to terminate her employment. Sowards appeals the dismissal of her case. Loudon County and Guider respond that even if Sowards's First Amendment rights were violated, political affiliation is a proper consideration for the position of a jailer under the Elrod/Branti exception. In addition, they claim that Guider is entitled to qualified immunity in his individual capacity.