Richard Oberdorfer v. Holly Jewkes

MEMORANDUM

1. The district court properly dismissed Western Radio’s Bivens claim under the First Amendment because Western Radio failed to state a plausible claim for relief. Western Radio must allege facts “ultimately enabling [it] to prove the elements of retaliatory animus as the cause of injury, with causation being understood to be but-for causation.” Lacey v. Maricopa Cnty., 693 F.3d 896, 916-17 (9th Cir.2012) (internal quotation marks omitted). Western Radio alleges that the Forest Service advised county officials that its Walker Mountain tower was illegal and caused the Department of Justice to file a federal complaint. But Western Radio failed to plead facts making it plausible that a retaliatory motive — as opposed to a legitimate concern for the property rights of the government — was the but-for cause of those actions.

2. Western Radio’s pleadings similarly failed to state a Bivens claim under the Equal Protection Clause. The conclusory allegation that “defendants intentionally treated plaintiffs differently from others similarly situated” fails to give the Forest Service fair notice of Western Radio’s claim; Western Radio’s complaint specifies neither those…