Demers v. Austin

729 F.3d 1011 (2013)

From our private database of 46,500+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Demers v. Austin

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
729 F.3d 1011 (2013)

Facts

Demers (plaintiff) was a tenured professor in the College of Communications at Washington State University (WSU). As part of the communications faculty, Demers served on the college’s Structure Committee, which was considering the issue of whether to divide the College of Communications faculty into two separate departments: Mass Communications and Communications Studies. In addition to working as a professor, Demers also owned and operated Marquette Books, an independent publishing company. Demers published a pamphlet titled “The 7-Step Plan,” in which he advocated for separating the communications faculties, and distributed the pamphlet to administrators at WSU, some of his colleagues, and to local print and broadcast media. Demers signed the pamphlet as the publisher of Marquette Books. Sometime after the pamphlet was distributed, Demers’s annual performance review scores for years 2006, 2007, and 2008 were lowered. Demers filed a lawsuit against WSU administrators (defendants), arguing that his performance scores were lowered in retaliation for his distribution of the pamphlet. The district court granted summary judgment for the administrators, and Demers appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Fletcher, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 832,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,500 briefs - keyed to 994 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership