City of North Muskegon Et Al. v. Briggs

Background

In 1977 a married police officer separated from his wife and moved in with a woman who was married to another man. The Police Chief suspended and then discharged him for conduct described as unbecoming an officer. The city council upheld the discipline. The officer sued, arguing his firing violated his civil rights. The District Court and the Sixth Circuit rejected state-law defenses and found his fundamental sexual privacy right was infringed, awarding $35,000 in compensatory damages, which the Sixth Circuit affirmed.

Reasoning

The key legal question is whether courts should decide whether private, extra-marital sexual activity is protected from punishment by public employers. The Supreme Court denied the petition for review, so it did not reach the merits. Justice White, joined by the Chief Justice and Justice Rehnquist, dissented, stressing that courts are divided on this issue and that the case warranted review. The dissent pointed to a contrasting Fifth Circuit decision that allowed disciplining officers for cohabitation and cited other conflicting lower-court rulings.

Real world impact

Because the Court refused to review the case, the Sixth Circuit’s judgment and the $35,000 award remain in effect. The denial leaves unresolved a split among federal appeals courts about disciplining employees for extramarital cohabitation. The practical result is that outcomes may differ by circuit unless the issue is later taken up and decided by the Supreme Court.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice White would have granted review to resolve the disagreement among appeals courts and to address the scope of sexual privacy protections for individuals in public employment.