Dist. Ct. erred in granting defendant-Village and Village Mayor’s motion for summary judgment in plaintiff-former police chief’s section 1983 action alleging that defendants violated plaintiff’s due process rights by terminating him as police chief without due process of law. Parties agreed that plaintiff had protected property interest in his continued employment, and that although there was ample opportunity for hearing prior to his termination, plaintiff received no notice of charges or hearing prior to his termination. As such, plaintiff stated valid due process claim under section 1983, where Village acted through Mayor and other high ranking officials with policy-making authority to effectuate plaintiff’s termination. Ct. rejected Dist. Ct.’s determination that plaintiff was not entitled to section 1983 relief, even though Dist. Ct. found that: (1) instant termination was “random unauthorized state” act that affected plaintiff‘s federal and state due process rights; and (2) plaintiff had available state-court post-deprivation procedure to remedy his loss. It further held that: (1) public employee’s decision to violate both state and federal procedural requirements was insufficient grounds to excuse instant federal due process liability; and (2) in cases alleging due process violations by municipal policymakers, there is no need to inquire into whether municipal employee’s actions were “random and unauthorized.” (Dissent filed.)
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Due Process