Ninth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Claims Against CDQ Clients for Alleged First Amendment Retaliation

On May 7, 2025, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a published opinion affirming the District Court’s dismissal with prejudice of a lawsuit seeking over $5 million against CDQ’s clients, the Arizona Board of Regents (“ABOR”), former University of Arizona President Robert Robbins and former University of Arizona Senior Vice President Michael Dake.  The Ninth Circuit held that the suit was barred by qualified immunity as the law had not clearly established that the Plaintiff’s allegations, accepted as true for purposes of the motion to dismiss, constituted a violation of Plaintiff’s constitutional First Amendment rights.

The CDQ team representing ABOR and its senior leadership was led by Dan Dowd and included Cole Kubosumi and Tracy Zekoff. Dan argued the case to the Ninth Circuit.