Sixth Circuit Revives Tennessee Supreme Court Board Lawyer Suit

The chief disciplinary counsel of the Tennessee Supreme Court Board of Professional Responsibility is not absolutely immune from a lawsuit alleging she wrongfully terminated an employee, the Sixth Circuit ruled.

The Monday decision from a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed a trial court’s 2022 ruling that board chief disciplinary counsel Sandra Garrett was entitled to absolute quasi-judicial immunity from Gerald Morgan’s suit for money damages. Morgan claimed both Garrett and the board wrongfully terminated him as disciplinary counsel with the board and violated his free speech rights by firing him over alleged ...