Riverside Sheriff's Ass'n v. County of Riverside

MEMORANDUM *

Riverside Sheriffs Association and Coy Bradstreet sued the County of Riverside (“County”) for an injunction and damages, claiming that the County failed to afford Bradstreet the name-clearing hearing to which he was entitled upon his discharge from employment. The district court granted summary judgment to the County. We affirm.

Because Bradstreet was a probationary employee, he had a right to a liberty interest hearing only if, “in the context of [his] employer discharging or failing to rehire” him, Seigert v. Gilley, 500 U.S. 226, 233 , *841 111 S.Ct. 1789, 114 L.Ed.2d 277 (1991), “the State ... imposed on him a stigma or other disability that foreclosed his freedom to take advantage of other employment opportunities,” Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 573 , 92 S.Ct. 2701 , 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972). Moreover, “the charges must be published.” Portman v. County of Santa Clara, 995 F.2d 898, 907 (9th Cir.1993).

No “stigma” could have attached to the termination because the county gave no reason at all in the termination letter placed in Bradstreet’s employment record. The district court correctly found that “[t]he only statement made at the time of termination…