Georgia Election Clerk’s Retaliation Lawsuit Revived on Appeal

A fired Georgia election clerk’s retaliation suit must be resurrected since her allegations are sufficiently pleaded to survive the dismissal stage of litigation, a federal appeals court held Friday.

Patricia Spurlin adequately alleged Floyd County, Ga., and some of its officials violated her First Amendment right to free speech when they fired her over their false belief she made an anonymous complaint, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit said. The appeals court unanimously reversed dismissal of the suit and remanded it to district court to rule whether the anonymous complaint is protected speech.

“We agree with Spurlin ...