January 13, 2023

DSB obtained an Order denying a motion to dismiss a civil rights claim – in one of the rare instances where DSB represented the Plaintiff – where a volunteer fire fighter argued that he was terminated without due process and in retaliation for exercising his First Amendment rights. The Court found that, at the pleading stage, a non-descript directive to appear at a meeting followed by a very short meeting informing the Plaintiff that he was being terminated for poor attendance stated a claim for a violation of the Due Process Clause, and the Plaintiff’s allegation that the attendance issue was mere pretext and he was actually terminated in response to having expressed a desire to run for an elected leadership position so as to prevent and discourage challenges to the current leadership’s control over a publicly-funded quasi-governmental organization sufficiently stated a claim for violation of the First Amendment.