Ex-San Francisco Assistant Prosecutor Loses Free Speech Appeal

San Francisco was properly granted dismissal of an assistant district attorney’s retaliation suit alleging he was fired for blowing the whistle on the city public defender’s office, a divided Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday.

Thomas Ostly lacked evidence that then district attorney and former Public Defender’s Office employee Chesa Boudin was aware of his whistleblowing, which included playing a role in a San Francisco Chronicle article about the PDO’s allegedly unethical behavior, a 2-1 panel said. Boudin testified that he didn’t remember knowing about Ostly’s complaints about the PDO or his public records requests, the panel majority said.

Ostly didn’t offer ...