202226P.pdf   12/06/2021  Susan Ackerman  v.  State of Iowa
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  20-2226
   U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa - Central   
   [PUBLISHED] [Wollman, Author, with Colloton and Kobes, Circuit Judges] 
   Civil case - Employment law. In action challenging plaintiff's termination 
   as an ALJ, the district court did not err in determining there was not a 
   genuine issue of material fact that plaintiff's testimony before an Iowa 
   legislative committee did not cause her discipline or termination; 
   defendant Wahlert's testimony before the Committee was within the scope of 
   her employment as director of plaintiff's branch, and she was entitled to 
   summary judgment based on qualified immunity with respect to her allegedly 
   defamatory testimony; the defendants were entitled to summary judgment on 
   plaintiff's First Amendment retaliation claims as they were either not 
   involved in her discipline and discharge or were able to present an 
   independent, non-retaliatory basis for plaintiff's suspension and 
   termination, and plaintiff failed to show the stated ground was 
   pretextual; defendants were entitled to summary judgment on plaintiff's 
   state law claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress as 
   defendants' conduct was not sufficiently egregious to satisfy the 
   outrageousness prong of the Iowa tort; in light of the court's holding 
   that plaintiff failed to establish a violation of her federal 
   constitutional right to free speech, she similarly failed to establish a 
   violation of her state constitutional right to free speech.