Flynn v. City of Boston
Case Date: 05/13/1998
Court: United States Court of Appeals
Docket No: 97-1076
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For the First Circuit No. 97-1076 KEVIN N. FLYNN AND RANDY WOLFSON, Plaintiffs, Appellants, v. CITY OF BOSTON, ET AL., Defendants, Appellees. ____________________ APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS [Hon. Richard G. Stearns, U.S. District Judge] ____________________ Before Boudin, Circuit Judge, John R. Gibson, Senior Circuit Judge, and Pollak, Senior District Judge. _____________________ Mark S. Bourbeau, with whom Liam C. Floyd and Bourbeau & Bourbeau, Bonilla, Tocchio & Floyd, LLP were on brief for appellants. Mary Jo Harris, with whom Kopelman and Paige, P.C. was on brief for appellees. May 12, 1998 BOUDIN, Circuit Judge. Kevin Flynn and Randy Wolfson appeal from the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants in their action alleging that they were discharged from their jobs with Boston Community Centers in violation of the First Amendment. Their former employer is an agency of the City of Boston with 400 employees and a budget of $15 million. It is concerned with the delivery of social services, including child care, youth work, and senior citizen programs, and it administers grants both from city funds and from other sources. In January 1994, the newly elected mayor of Boston appointed Evelyn Riesenberg, formerly one of his special assistants, as the director of Boston Community Centers. Kevin Flynn was then the associate director of administration and finance; Randy Wolfson was one of two associate directors for field operations. In their later filed court papers, Flynn and Wolfson describe Riesenberg's reign in very unflattering terms. In particular, they charge that from the outset, Riesenberg pressed Wolfson to tell her which senior staff members had worked for particular mayoral candidates; and Flynn says that Riesenberg asked him how she could fire the entire central office staff and replace them with her own supporters or those of the mayor. Both say that they argued with Riesenberg against this course of action. They also say that Riesenberg sought, over their opposition, to appoint unqualified personnel to reward supporters of the mayor, and they provide specific examples. Flynn says that Riesenberg ordered him to raise pay for a union worker in violation of the union contract. Flynn and Wolfson also say that Riesenberg mishandled several sexual harassment complaints and related personnel actions, despite their objections. In August 1994, Riesenberg gave Flynn and Wolfson termination notices, asserting that she was reorganizing the agency. When they protested, the city's corporation counsel wrote to them that they were being discharged because of the reorganization and "an evaluation of their performance." Flynn and Wolfson in turn say that the reorganization was a sham and that neither of them has any negative evaluations in his or her personnel files. After Flynn and Wolfson were fired, they brought suit in the district court against Riesenberg, the mayor, and the city. The plaintiffs sought declaratory and injunctive relief, and damages under 42 U.S.C. 1983, on the ground that their First Amendment rights had been infringed; they also made statutory and common law claims based on state law. After discovery, the plaintiffs waived some claims, and the district court dismissed or granted summary judgment in favor of defendants on all of the remaining claims. On summary dispositions, we take the facts and draw inferences in favor of the non-moving party. Ortiz-Pi |