Allen

Plaintiff Terence Allen, M.D., a physician formerly employed by the Hawaii Department of Public Safety, brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against three state officials who were supervisors within the Department. Allen alleged that the defendants retaliated against him and conspired to retaliate against him in violation of his First Amendment rights because he spoke out on abuse of inmates at the Hawaii correctional facilities where he was employed. Following a bench trial, the district court entered judgment for Allen on all counts of the complaint. The defendants appeal. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

I. Background.

Allen was employed from 1987 through 1997 by the Hawaii Department of Corrections, a subdivision of the Department of Public Safety, to provide medical services to inmates at the high and medium security units at the Halawa Correctional Facility (“Halawa”). He began working at the Department of Corrections on a fee-for-service basis and was hired in January 1995 to fill the part-time permanent position of Physician I at Halawa.

Defendant Guy Hall was Warden of Ha-lawa from November 1993 to November 1995, and then…