Trial lawyers specializing in personal injury and civil litigation
City Attorney's First Amendment retaliation claim is allowed to go to jury
Bridget Handy-Clay sued the City of Memphis, arguing that it retaliated against her for raising issues about how City Administration and the City Attorney's office managed FOIA requests and work duties. She claimed that she was fired for raising these issues with a City Councilman and in a Freedom of Information Act request. The District Court dismissed her claim but the Sixth Circuit reinstated the First Amendment aspect of the claim. The higher court ruled that the District Court had applied a too-burdensome standard in requiring Handy-Clay's allegations to be "persuasive" rather than merely "plausible" at the outset of the case. Ultimately, the question of whether the allegations met the burden of "persuasion" was a question for the jurors.