Plaintiff, a former lieutenant with the county sheriff’s department, filed a lawsuit against his former employer alleging that his employer coerced him to resign and waive his right to a hearing before the merit board due to allegations that he had used excessive force and that the resignation violated plaintiff’s rights under both state law and his federal procedural due process rights. The district court dismissed the lawsuit, finding that defendants were protected by absolute and qualified immunity. The Seventh Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part, finding that the prosecutors were entitled to absolute immunity for their filing of Brady/Giglio disclosures in plaintiff’s criminal cases, but that the remaining allegations were sufficient to move past the pleading stage. (SCUDDER and JACKSON-AKIWUMI, concurring)
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Qualified Immunity