Thomas C. Guy v. Mohave County, James R. Smith v. Mohave County

This case presents an appeal involving the due process rights of two former sheriffs deputies from the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona who filed actions against their employers, Mohave County, et al., after having been terminated from their jobs. Plaintiffs alleged that the defendants had failed to provide them with a requested termination hearing in violation of their due process rights. Plaintiffs filed complaints under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 , 1985(2), (3), and 1986 of the Civil Rights Act and sought declaratory and injunctive relief, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201 , 2202, and damages.

The district court entertained cross-motions for summary judgment in a dispute which centered on the classification of the plaintiffs’ employment status and exhaustion of administrative remedies. The district court concluded that the plaintiffs’ due process rights were not violated as they were employees terminable at will and they had not perfected their administrative review rights. Accordingly, judgment was entered in favor of defendants. We hold that the district court correctly classified the plaintiffs as employees terminable at will and affirm the judgment.

The issues before this court are:

1.…