Richard Haverda v. Hays County, 723 F.3d 586

Haverda, a long-time Hays County Jail corrections official, supported Sheriff Ratliff in the 2010 election and wrote a letter to the editor endorsing him.
After Cutler won, Chief Deputy Page inspected the Jail and identified serious health, safety, and management problems.
Page recommended termination of the Jail Command Staff; Cutler initially agreed to suspending terminations for 60 days to allow improvement.
During the suspension period, Haverda’s performance was disputed; Page testified negatively, while Haverda denied the allegations.
On February 23, 2011, Haverda was demoted to Corrections Officer; he retired later that month; he filed suit in August 2011 alleging First Amendment retaliation and related claims.
The district court granted summary judgment; the Fifth Circuit reverses and remands for fact-finder resolution of disputed issues.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Haverda's speech motivated the demotion	Haverda shows statements during a meeting, demotion memo language, and political remarks.	Appellees argue the reasons were performance-based and not pretextual.	Genuine fact issues exist on motive and pretext.
Mt. Healthy pretext framework applies at summary judgment	Pretext evidence shows action would not have occurred without protected speech.	Defendants would have acted regardless of speech based on jail condition and performance reviews.	Material facts remain; summary judgment improper.
Whether Haverda spoke as a citizen or as an employee	Letter to the editor about campaign and jail issues was citizen speech.	Speech was related to official duties and not protected.	Haverda spoke as a citizen; protected speech.
Whether qualified immunity shields defendants	Constitutional right not to be fired for protected speech was violated.	No clearly established violation at the time.	Qualified immunity not warranted; issue for trial.

Mt. Healthy City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274 (U.S. 1977) (mixed-m motives framework for retaliation)
Beattie v. Madison Cnty. Sch. Dist., 254 F.3d 595 (5th Cir. 2001) (First Amendment retaliation standards; balancing)
Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410 (U.S. 2006) (speech and public concern; citizen vs employee speech)
Click v. Copeland, 970 F.2d 106 (5th Cir. 1992) (causation issues; pretext evidence for jury)
Jordan v. Ector County, 516 F.3d 290 (5th Cir. 2008) (Mt. Healthy framework; non-predominant conduct)
LeMaire v. Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development, 480 F.3d 383 (5th Cir. 2007) (pretext and mixed-motives analysis; genuine issue of material fact)
Coughlin v. Lee, 946 F.2d 1152 (5th Cir. 1991) (pretext standard in Mt. Healthy framework)