Gonzalez v. Lee County Housing Authority, 161 F.3d 1290 (1998)

Citation: Gonzalez v. Lee County Housing Authority, 161 F.3d 1290 (1998)
Parent Document: Gonzalez v. Lee County Housing Authority, 161 F.3d 1290 (1998)
Jurisdiction: United States (federal)
Effective Date: 1998-12-02
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/73387/gonzalez-v-lee-county-housing-authority/ ↗

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Because housing discrimination by a public housing authority is an issue of significant public importance, a public official ordinarily would know that an employee’s statement addressing this issue constitutes speech on a matter of public concern. See Kurtz v. Vickrey, 855 F.2d 723, 727 (11th Cir.1988) (stating that the content of the speech is an important factor in the public concern analysis). Due to the unique confluence of facts in this ease, however, we hold that the evidence, even viewed in the light most favorable to Gonzalez, would not have compelled a reasonable official in Moran’s position to believe that Gonzalez’s letter constituted speech on a matter of public concern. See Badia, 133 F.3d at 1445; see also Jenkins by Hall v. Talladega City Bd. of Educ., 115 F.3d 821, 823 (11th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 118 S.Ct. 412, 139 L.Ed.2d 315 (1997). We therefore hold that Moran is entitled to qualified immunity on Gonzalez’s section 1983 claim, and we reverse the district court’s denial of summary judgment to Moran in her individual capacity on this claim. IV.

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