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Ray v. City of Bossier City10/24/2003
t a set up) from an unidentified source which Captain Sproles could not "give total reliability to." Captain Sproles did not conclude that a criminal act had not been proven and recognized that credibility decisions had to be made.
The trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Chief Dison and Bossier City on the issues of constructive discharge, freedom of expression, and the whistleblower statute. We emphasize that this court expresses no credibility opinion on these issues.
Equal Protection
Citing Village of Willowbrook v. Olech, 528 U.S. 562, 120 S. Ct. 1073, 145 L. Ed. 2d 1060 (2000), Ray and Patten claim that although they are not in a protected class, "they have been subjected to class-of-one equal protection discrimination" because of differential treatment.
Our research reveals that Louisiana jurisprudence does not recognize an equal protection claim in the context of only a single member, or a class-of-one plaintiff. Nonetheless, a plaintiff has the right to pursue a federal claim in a state court. Spradlin v. Acadia-St. Landry Medical Foundation, 98-1977 (La. 02/29/00), 758 So. 2d 116. Although a federal claim in the context of a single member class is recognized, a plaintiff must show that he has been intentionally singled out and treated differently from others similarly situated and that there is no rational basis for the difference in treatment. See Village of Willowbrook, supra.
Plaintiffs have failed to produce any support that they can make the requisite showing that others who were similarly situated within the police department were treated differently than they were. Plaintiffs offered only Officer Jeter's deposition statement that another officer offered a cigarette to a juvenile, had a domestic quarrel, and was not disciplined. The trial court correctly granted summary judgment in favor of all of the defendants with regard to the equal protection claim.
Defamation
Ray and Patten have asserted a separate claim against Jones for defamation. They claim that Jones made three public defamatory statements against them after they filed this lawsuit.
One of the alleged defamatory statements made by Jones was made on March 23, 2001; he was quoted in The Times as referring to plaintiffs as "two rogue cops caught breaking the law." Jones was also quoted in Bossier Press Tribune on March 26, 2001, as stating, " hat you have here are vigilante rogue cops hunting people down. It doesn't get any dirtier than that." Finally, during an interview with a local television news reporter, Jones stated:
"Leadership is a contact sport. It's garbage like this that keeps people from participating in public service. These officers have a hard time following departmental procedure and also have trouble telling the truth."
The reference to Ray and Patten as "garbage" would be considered an exaggeration, or a hyperbole, as no one would literally consider them to be refuse. Likewise, references to plaintiffs as "rogue cops" could not reasonably be interpreted as stating an actual fact. These statements are merely the expressed subjective opinions of Jones. While such comments are likely upsetting to the subjects to which they refer, the United States Supreme Court has stated that "debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials." New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 270, 84 S. Ct. 710, 721, 11 L. Ed. 2d 686 (1964). We find that Jones was not attempting to assert objective facts about Ray and Patten; instead, he was stating
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