Hargrove

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 DORIAN HARGROVE, Case No.: 21-CV-1491-CAB-WVG

Plaintiff,

ORDER ON MOTION TO DISMISS

v. CITY OF SAN DIEGO et al., [Doc. No. 7] Defendants. 16 In his complaint, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants the City of San Diego, the City Attorney, and an assistant city attorney, encouraged, pressured, and/or threatened Plaintiff’s employer, NBC7, to take adverse employment action against Plaintiff, a reporter for NBC7, because he wrote unfavorable stories about a real estate transaction involving the City. NBC7 allegedly “capitulated to Defendants’ threats and took adverse employment action against Plaintiff, which included barring him from further reporting regarding the City of San Diego. . . .” [Doc. No. 1 at ¶ 61.] The complaint attempts to assert a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 that Defendants’ actions violated his free speech rights under the First Amendment of the Constitution. On December 16,…