Lawson

This appeal by Umatilla County, Oregon from an adverse judgment in an action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by Kevin Lawson, a discharged County employee, requires us to decide if Lawson possessed a constitutionally-protected property interest that prevented the County from terminating him without providing the procedural due process guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we reverse.

I.

The County hired Lawson as coordinator of its Commission on Children and Families in February 1993. The Commission’s main task was to apportion state grant money among providers of service to children and families in Umatilla County. At the time of his hire, Lawson was considered a probationary employee. After receiving a positive evaluation in 1993, Lawson became a permanent employee when his probationary period ended in January 1994. The Umatilla County Personnel Policies provided that permanent employees could be disciplined only for the causes set forth therein. However, the Personnel Policies also included the following disclaimer:

In addition, the County could deviate from the Policies upon written…

dissenting:

I dissent because I believe that Lawson could only be fired for cause and that based on the evidence, a reasonable jury could so find. The County’s policy manual clearly stated that “[n]o permanent employee shall be disciplined except for violation of established rules and regulations,” and the County’s conduct indicates that it believed that this provision was binding. I believe that these “rules and understandings” secured Lawson’s property interest in his job. See Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 577 , 92 S.Ct. 2701, 2709 , 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972) (stating that property interests “are created and their dimensions are defined by existing rules and understandings ... that secure certain benefits and that support claims of entitlement to those benefits”).

The majority, however, believes that as a matter of law Lawson had no property interest in his job because the policy manual also stated that “[ujnder no circumstances shall these policies be construed to act as any type of employment contract.” The majority reads this contract disclaimer as retaining the at-will job status of County employees. According to the majority, the provisions in the policy manual…