Hatfield

MEMORANDUM *

Plaintiff-Appellant Joseph Hatfield, a former Captain in the Bremerton Police Department, sued the City of Bremerton and its former mayor, Lynn Horton, claiming retaliation for his exercise of his First Amendment rights of free speech and association based on his union activities and political opposition to the mayor. He also raised state-law tort claims for constructive discharge and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and his wife alleged loss of consortium. The district court awarded summary judgment to the defendants on all grounds, finding that Hatfield failed to establish a prima facie case of retaliation, and that the rest of his claims failed because they turned on the existence of a predicate constitutional violation. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Summary judgment may be affirmed on any ground supported by the record. See Keyser v. Sacramento City Unified Sch. Dist., 265 F.3d 741, 750 (9th Cir.2001). Here, we affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the defendants on two grounds: Hatfield’s First Amendment claims are either time-barred or untenable under Branti v. Finkel, 445 U.S. 507 , 100 S.Ct. 1287…