Philip Cabrol, Gloria Cabrol v. Town of Youngsville Lucas Denais, Mayor

106 F.3d 101, 12 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 950, 1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 3261, 1997 WL 47777
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 24, 1997
Docket96-30219
StatusPublished
Cited by82 cases

This text of 106 F.3d 101 (Philip Cabrol, Gloria Cabrol v. Town of Youngsville Lucas Denais, Mayor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Philip Cabrol, Gloria Cabrol v. Town of Youngsville Lucas Denais, Mayor, 106 F.3d 101, 12 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 950, 1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 3261, 1997 WL 47777 (5th Cir. 1997).

Opinions

PARKER, Circuit Judge:

This ease arises from the sights, smells and early morning sounds emanating from the yard of Philip Cabrol (“Cabrol”), who appeals from an order granting summary judgment to the town of Youngsville, Louisiana (‘Youngsville”), and the mayor of the town, Lucas Denais (“the mayor”) in his action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for alleged violations of his rights under the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. An at-will employ[104]*104ee of YoungsviUe, Cabrol brought this action after being terminated from his position after refusing the mayor’s request to relocate the chickens inhabiting Cabrol’s residence’s yard. Cabrol contends on appeal that (1) the district court improperly granted summary judgment on Cabrol’s due process claim because Cabrol had a property interest in his employment, the deprivation of which required due process protections; (2) that summary judgment was improperly granted on his second due process claim because stigmatizing ahegations were made in connection with his termination that deprived him of a liberty interest without due process; (3) that summary judgment was improperly granted on his claim that he was retaliatorily discharged for exercising his right to speech under the First Amendment; (4) that the district court improperly found that the may- or was entitled to qualified immunity; and (5) that the district court erred in dismissing Cabrol’s supplemental state law claims. For the following reasons, we affirm.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Viewing the summary judgment record in a light most favorable to the nonmovant, Cabrol, the facts are as follows. Cabrol was hired by YoungsviUe as a part-time water meter reader in December 1986 following a unanimously supported motion of the town council. In November of 1987, by vote of the town council, a part-time position of “mayor’s assistant” was created and, following a vote of the town council, Cabrol was hired for this job. In addition to reading meters, Cabrol’s duties in this position included maintenance of city utilities and streets, and customer service related to utilities and streets.

Cabrol raises “fighting chickens”1 at his residence in YoungsviUe. By the faU of 1994, the mayor had received complaints regarding the noise and smell generated by Cabrol’s and others’ chickens. The record indicates that at least one councü member had received simñar complaints.

In the faU of 1994, the mayor sponsored a proposed amendment to YoungsvUle’s nuisance ordinance. The amendment apparently added “disagreeable or obnoxious odors and stenches” and “unnecessary or unauthorized noises ... including animal noises” to the nuisance ordinance’s definition of nuisance. One member of the town councü expressed concern about the amendment’s ramifications for animal ownership in YoungsviUe when it was discussed at the October 1994 councü meeting, and the amendment was tabled.

Cabrol testified that he was opposed to the amendment, and spoke to several councü members, other chicken fighters and some YoungsviUe residents whüe at the post office regarding the issue. Cabrol understood that the amendment would be discussed at the November 10, 1994 town councü ■ meeting.2 Cabrol’s position with the town involved attending the town councü meetings. He attended the meeting but did not speak. The amendment was not reintroduced at the November meeting; in fact, it was never reintroduced or adopted.

On November 16, 1994, the mayor sent Cabrol a letter informing him that his employment with the town would be terminated if he did not rid his yard of the chickens by November 30, 1994. This letter apparently foUowed some conversation on the topic. The mayor explained that he had received “numerous complaints” about Cabrol’s chickens: “The complaints about your chickens range from stinky, unsightly to noisy.” Ca-brol did not remove the chickens from his yard.

Effective November 30, 1994, the mayor terminated Cabrol. Cabrol subsequently filed this action in district court under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming that Youngsvüle and the mayor deprived him of liberty and property interests without due process as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment and re-[105]*105taliatorily discharged him for exercising his First Amendment right to expression. He also included supplementary state law claims based on Louisiana’s Constitution and statutory law that parallel the 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims. The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants and dismissed the state law claims without prejudice. It issued no written opinion but its statements at the summary judgment hearing indicate that it found that Cabrol had no property interest in his job and, as an at-will employee, could be terminated for any reason.

Cabrol appeals the district court’s judgment to this court, arguing the following: (1) that his termination failed to comply with the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in that he had a property interest in his continued employment of which he was deprived without due process; (2) that stigmatizing allegations were made in connection with his termination implicating a liberty interest of which he was deprived without due process; (3) that the reason for his termination from his at-will position was his verbal and symbolic opposition to the proposed amendment to Youngsville’s nuisance ordinance in violation of his right to expression under the First Amendment; (4) that the district court erred in finding the mayor entitled to qualified immunity; and (5) that the district court erred in dismissing the supplementary state law claims.

II. DISCUSSION

We review orders granting summary judgment de novo, applying the same standards as the district court. Fowler v. Smith, 68 F.3d 124, 126 (5th Cir.1995). Summary judgment is appropriate where there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e). When reviewing an order granting summary judgment, we are not limited to the district court’s conclusions but can affirm a district court’s judgment on any grounds supported by the summary judgment record. Sojourner T. v. Edwards, 974 F.2d 27, 30 (5th Cir.1992), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 972, 113 S.Ct. 1414, 122 L.Ed.2d 785 (1993).

In reviewing 42 U.S.C. § 1983 actions where qualified immunity is asserted, our first inquiry concerns whether a constitutional violation occurred. Siegert v. Gilley, 500 U.S. 226, 111 S.Ct. 1789, 114 L.Ed.2d 277 (1991). Thus, we turn to a review of the three constitutional claims, after which we address Cabrol’s additional contentions, which include the issue of the mayor’s entitlement to qualified immunity.

A. Deprivation of a Property Interest without Due Process

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106 F.3d 101, 12 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 950, 1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 3261, 1997 WL 47777, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/philip-cabrol-gloria-cabrol-v-town-of-youngsville-lucas-denais-mayor-ca5-1997.