Summary Judgment Granted on Political Discrimination Lawsuit in Federal Court – Partner Christopher A. Tinari and Associate Michael R. Miller Prevail on Summary Judgment in Contentious Political Appointment Case

Philadelphia Partner Christopher A. Tinari and Michael R. Miller obtained summary judgment in the matter of <em>Young v. Butler Township</em> before the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The plaintiff, a road foreman employed for over twenty years with the Township, alleged he was discharged from employment after supporting a political rival to the two sitting Township Supervisors. Plaintiff sought damages in excess of $250,000 for lost wages, compensatory damages and punitive damages. The Court granted summary judgment on all counts, finding plaintiff failed to adduce sufficient evidence of a prima facie case of political discrimination or evidence that defendants’ reason for termination was pretextual. The Court was also persuaded by our novel argument, as found in the Second Circuit, that a prima facie case cannot be made by the timing between an election and inaugural meeting alone because those two events are set by statute.