Minten v. Weber
| Decision Date | 22 December 2011 |
| Docket Number | No. C11–4004–MWB.,C11–4004–MWB. |
| Parties | Daniel MINTEN, Plaintiff, v. Douglas L. WEBER, individually and in his official capacity as Sheriff of Osceola County, Iowa, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Erick G. Kaardal, Vincent J. Fahnlander, Mohrman & Kaardal, PA, Minneapolis, MN, William F. Mohrman, Saint Paul, MN, for Plaintiff.
Douglas L. Phillips, Klass Law Firm, L.L.P., Sioux City, IA, for Defendant.
Last year, following a bench trial, I found that defendant Douglas L. Weber, the Sheriff of Osceola County, Iowa, violated a right wing gadfly's First Amendment free speech rights by denying his application for a concealed weapon permit due to the applicant's protected free speech activities (“the Dorr Lawsuit”). See Dorr v. Weber, 741 F.Supp.2d 1010, 1020 (N.D.Iowa 2010).1 Prior to the Dorr Lawsuit going to trial, plaintiff Daniel Minten, a longtime Osceola County Deputy Sheriff, offered to testify in support of the plaintiff in the Dorr Lawsuit. After Weber learned of Minten's offer to testify, Weber fired him. The parties' cross-motions for summary judgment require me to decide whether Minten's firing violated his First Amendment rights.
On January 10, 2011, plaintiff Daniel Minten filed a Complaint naming defendant Douglas L. Weber, individually and in his capacity as Sheriff of Osceola County and asserting claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1988 (civil rights statutes), 28 U.S.C. § 2201 (declaratory judgment statute), and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. In his Complaint, Minten alleges that his employment as a Osceola County Deputy Sheriff was terminated in 2009 when he offered to testify in the Dorr Lawsuit concerning whether Weber had violated the First Amendment in denying two individuals nonprofessional permits to carry weapons, pursuant to Iowa Code § 724.7, even though they met all of the statutory criteria necessary for issuance of such permits, pursuant to Iowa Code § 724.8, in retaliation for exercising their First Amendment rights. Minten alleges Weber terminated his employment in retaliation for and in violation of Minten's First Amendment right to free speech.
On September 30, 2011, both Minten and Weber filed a Motion for Summary Judgment (docket nos. 18 and 19). Weber argues Minten was not protected from discipline by the First Amendment because he was acting in his official capacity as a deputy sheriff when he made the statement at issue. Weber also argues that if Minten was speaking as a citizen at the time he made the statement, he had no constitutionally protected right to engage in purely private conduct while working as a deputy sheriff for Osceola County. In contrast, Minten contends that summary judgment should be granted in his favor. He argues that his statements related to a matter of public concern and Weber fired him in retaliation for making the statements, violating the First Amendment.
Minten filed a timely response to Weber's Motion For Summary Judgment in which he argues that his statements were made outside his official duties and did not interfere with the performance of his job. Weber, likewise, filed a timely response to Minten's Motion for Summary Judgment. In his response, Weber argues Minten cannot establish a prima facie case of retaliation based on the First Amendment because he was not engaged in protected speech since Minten was speaking in his official capacity as a deputy sheriff, and not as a private citizen, when he offered to testify. Weber also argues Minten was not engaged in protected speech because his offer to testify was not a matter of public concern. Weber further contends that summary judgment on Minten's motion is inappropriate because he has generated a genuine issue of material fact on the question of whether Minten's protected conduct was a motivating factor in Weber's decision to fire him. Minten, in turn, filed a timely reply brief in which he argues that he was engaged in protected speech since he was speaking as a private citizen about a matter of public concern. Minten also contends that summary judgment on his behalf is appropriate because Weber's consistent statements demonstrate that Minten's First Amendment activities were a motivating factor for his firing.
I set forth those facts, both undisputed and disputed, sufficient to put in context the parties' arguments concerning the cross-motions for summary judgment. Unless otherwise indicated, the facts recited here are undisputed, at least for purposes of summary judgment. Additional factual allegations and the extent to which they are or are not disputed or material will be discussed, if necessary, in my legal analysis.
Plaintiff Daniel Minten served as an Osceola County, Iowa, Deputy Sheriff for 21 years. On February 1, 2010, he was fired by defendant Osceola County Sheriff Douglas L. Weber. The event underlying Minten's firing arose six months earlier, in August of 2009. On August 31, 2009, Minten performed a traffic stop on a vehicle being driven by Emily Dorr (“Emily”). Minten stopped Emily for a traffic violation, speeding. Minten was working his regular shift and performing his regular responsibilities as a patrol officer. He was driving a county vehicle. Emily is the daughter of Paul Dorr (“Paul”) and sister of Alexander Dorr (“Alexander”), the plaintiffs in the Dorr Lawsuit. At the time of Emily's traffic stop, the Dorr Lawsuit was pending in the Northern District of Iowa. After Minten gave Emily a verbal warning for speeding, he talked to her about the Dorr Lawsuit and offered to testify on Paul's behalf, but noted that he would have to be subpoenaed. Minten and Emily's entire conversation about the Dorr Lawsuit lasted approximately two minutes. Minten's offer to testify was unrelated to the traffic stop and was not part of his official duties. He testified in his deposition that his offer to testify had “nothing to do with being a...
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Pinnell v. City of Gerald
...speech was a motiving factor in the City's decision to fire her. See Wilson v. Miller, 821 F.3d 963, 967-68; Minten v. Webber, 832 F.Supp.2d 1007, 1024 (N.D. Iowa 2011). This inquiry is essentially an issue of causation. See Revels v. Vincenz, 382 F.3d 870, 876 (8th Cir. 2004). "Retaliation......