Koehn v. Indian Hills Community College

• Decision Date: 09 June 2004
• Docket Number: No. 03-3163.,03-3163.
• Citation: 371 F.3d 394
• Parties: Roger KOEHN, Appellant, v. INDIAN HILLS COMMUNITY COLLEGE; James Lindenmayer, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

371 F.3d 394

Roger KOEHN, Appellant, v. INDIAN HILLS COMMUNITY COLLEGE; James Lindenmayer, Appellees.

No. 03-3163.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: April 15, 2004.

Filed: June 9, 2004.

Mark L. Zaiger, argued, Cedar Rapids, IA (Robert K. Porter on the brief), for appellant.

Gayla Renee Harrison, argued, Ottumwa, IA (John N. Moreland on the brief), for appellee.

Before WOLLMAN, McMILLIAN and RILEY, Circuit Judges.

MCMILLIAN, Circuit Judge.

Roger Koehn appeals from a final order entered in the United States District Court¹ for the Southern District of Iowa granting summary judgment in favor of Indian Hills Community College (IHCC) and James Lindenmayer (together defendants) on his claims alleging wrongful discharge in violation of the First Amendment and state public policy. Koehn v. Indian Hills Community College, 2003 WL 21976025, No. 4-02-CV-10273 (S.D.Iowa Aug.5, 2003) (hereinafter "slip op."). For reversal, Koehn argues that the district court erred in holding as a matter of law that Koehn did not engage in speech that is protected by the First Amendment or protected by a clearly defined public policy under Iowa law. For the reasons stated below, we affirm the order of the district court.

Jurisdiction in the district court was proper based upon 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1367(a). Jurisdiction on appeal is proper based upon 28 U.S.C. § 1291. The notice of appeal was timely filed pursuant to Fed. R.App. P. 4(a).

IHCC is a public employer. Lindenmayer was at all relevant times the Vice President of Personnel and Administration at IHCC. Koehn began working at IHCC as a night shift custodian in March 1984. As of July 12, 2001, Koehn was an employee in good standing at IHCC and, on that date, was offered a continuation of his "at will" employment with a standard increase in salary and benefits, subject to, among other things, his continued satisfactory job performance. On August 9, 2001, in compliance with state law, IHCC published in a local newspaper its annual statement of disbursements, including a list of IHCC employees and their salaries.

In the early morning hours of August 24, 2001, Koehn was working the night shift at IHCC. He had with him the August 9, 2001, newspaper which contained the IHCC annual statement of disbursements. At approximately 1:30 a.m., Koehn and two other night shift custodians were taking a regular meal break together, and they examined the employee salary list in the newspaper that Koehn had brought to work. One of them highlighted the salaries of numerous IHCC employees of interest to them, including some of the custodial staff and supervisors. Shortly thereafter, an assistant custodial supervisor on the night shift entered the room and saw the highlighted list. Upon seeing that his compensation was less than several other night shift custodians, he became upset. Another supervisor learned about the incident and reported it to Lindenmayer. Lindenmayer discussed the matter with some of the custodians and then decided to terminate Koehn. At the time of his termination, Koehn was told by Lindenmayer that he was an "antagonist" and that his services were no longer needed.

Koehn filed a "prohibited practices complaint" with the Iowa Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), alleging that IHCC terminated him for exercising rights granted under the Iowa Public Employment Relations Act.² While that matter was pending before the PERB, Koehn filed the present action in federal court, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that defendants' actions violated his constitutional right to free speech (Count I) and violated state public policy (Count II). Defendants moved for summary judgment on both counts, and the district court granted their motion. This appeal followed.

We review a grant of summary judgment de novo. The question before the district court, and this court on appeal, is whether the record, when viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, shows that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249-50, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Where the unresolved issues are primarily legal rather than factual, summary judgment is particularly appropriate. See Crain v. Board of Police Comm'rs, 920 F.2d 1402, 1405-06 (8th Cir.1990).

Upon de novo review, we agree with the district court that, although the IHCC employee salary list could be viewed as a topic of public interest or concern, the evidence showed beyond dispute that Koehn was "speaking solely as an employee-and not as a concerned taxpayer" when he engaged in a conversation with co-workers during a break regarding various IHCC employees' salaries. Slip op. at 8. As ...