CDQ Secures Dismissal of Claims for Sexual Orientation Discrimination and First Amendment Retaliation

CDQ’s Dan Dowd, Rebecca van Doren and Cole Kubosumi obtained final judgment dismissing a federal lawsuit filed by a former University of Arizona employee. The plaintiff asserted claims of sexual orientation discrimination and First Amendment free speech and associational retaliation.  After multiple failed attempts to plead each claim, the District of Arizona adopted the analysis set forth in CDQ’s briefing, dismissing the plaintiff’s discrimination and First Amendment retaliation claims with prejudice, holding the plaintiff failed to plead plausible claims and the University officials were entitled to qualified immunity.