Denke v. Shoemaker, 2008 MT 418 (2008)

Citation: Denke v. Shoemaker, 2008 MT 418 (2008)
Parent Document: Denke v. Shoemaker, 2008 MT 418 (2008)
Jurisdiction: Montana (state)
Effective Date: 2008-12-16
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/888205/denke-v-shoemaker/ ↗

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¶41 Denke filed the instant Human Rights action claiming that the City had unlawfully retaliated against her in the way it “regulated” the February 14 council meeting. Denke’s theory is that “moving the meeting place to accommodate the expected large crowd and allowing unlimited discussion... of Denke’s sexual harassment complaint, that included personal attacks on Denke,” constituted unlawful retaliation. She points out, based on testimony at the contested case hearing, that the City Council imposed limits on discussions at other council meetings. In one particular instance, the City Council was considering a complaint against a law enforcement officer, and the mayor limited the speakers’ comments to what they personally knew (as opposed to hearsay). In another instance, in order to receive as many comments from the public as possible concerning a water issue, a time limit of *336three minutes per speaker was imposed. In Denke’s view, the City treated her differently by not imposing these same sorts of limitations on the discussion at the February 14 council meeting and by “actually encouraging] further, unlimited comment.” The City did so, according to Denke, in retaliation for her filing and prosecuting her 1999 Human Rights complaint.

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