Jones

Jones v. Washington Interscholastic Activities Ass'n

Good Law
342 F. App'x 264
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitJune 19, 2009No. 08-35185California454 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Patrick A.T. Jones (“Jones”) appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (“WIAA”). We review the district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo, Video Software Dealers Ass’n v. Schwarzenegger, 556 F.3d 950, 956 (9th Cir.2009), and we affirm.

Jones has not shown that a contractual right to coach football at a public high school is a “fundamental right” protected by the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. See Dittman v. California, 191 F.3d 1020 , 1031 n. 5 (9th Cir.1999) (“The [Supreme] Court has never held that the ‘right’ to pursue a profession is a fundamental right, such that any state-sponsored barriers to entry would be subject to strict scrutiny”). Jones also has not shown that football coaches are deserving of suspect classification as a protected class under the Fourteenth Amendment. See City of New Orleans v. Dukes, 427 U.S. 297, 303 , 96 S.Ct. 2513 , 49 L.Ed.2d 511 (1976). Accordingly, because Jones has not asserted discrimination on the basis of a suspect class or denial of a fundamental right, the rational basis test applies to his equal protection claim.…

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