Mohammad Siddique v. Michael Laliberte

In the

United States Court of Appeals

For the Seventh Circuit

____________________

No. 19-2580

MOHAMMAD SIDDIQUE,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

MICHAEL LALIBERTE, DAVID STOCKTON, and RICHARD THOMAS,

Defendants-Appellees.

____________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the

Eastern District of Wisconsin.

No. 15-cv-1 — J.P. Stadtmueller, Judge.

____________________

ARGUED MARCH 31, 2020 — DECIDED AUGUST 26, 2020

____________________

Before KANNE, WOOD, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

KANNE, Circuit Judge. In 2013, Mohammad Siddique ap-

plied for a temporary student-government position at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison. His application was said

to have been rejected because he did not meet a minimum-

enrollment requirement crafted for the position. Siddique of-

fers an alternative narrative: his application was rejected not

because of the enrollment criteria but because of his critical

stances against members of the University administration

2 No. 19-2580

who worked with the student government and who were in-

volved with the application process, including the Defend-

ants.

Siddique sued University officials, Laliberte, Stockton,

and Thomas, in their individual capacities, under the Civil

Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleged that these De-

fendants’ rejection of his application for the student-govern-

ment position violated his First Amendment right to be free

from governmental retaliation.

The district court determined that qualified immunity pre-

vented Siddique’s claim from proceeding to trial and granted

summary judgment to the Defendants. We affirm because fed-

eral law does not clearly establish that enforcing an enroll-

ment requirement for a student-government position violates

the First Amendment.

I. BACKGROUND1

In 2013, Mohammad Siddique was a student at the Uni-

versity of Wisconsin–Madison and actively involved in stu-

dent government. He was also an outspoken critic of the Uni-

versity and its officials, including Defendants Michael

Laliberte, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs; David Stock-

ton, Student Government Relations Coordinator; and Richard

Thomas, Director of the Student Union. During his time in

student government, Siddique successfully advocated for

policies adverse to the Defendants’ interests. To take a few

1 This case comes to us on appeal from the district court’s grant of sum-

mary judgment to the Defendants. We describe the facts in a light most

favorable to Siddique—the non-moving party—with all reasonable infer-

ences drawn in his favor. Daugherty v. Page, 906 F.3d 606, 609 (7th Cir.

2018).

No. 19-2580 3

examples, Siddique successfully campaigned to defund

Stockton’s position; he advocated for withdrawing student

support for building a new student union; and he supported

student leaders who would fight to increase the student gov-

ernment’s autonomy from what was seen as overbearing Uni-

versity leadership in Student Affairs.

In the spring of 2013, students voted for the student-gov-

ernment candidates they wished to represent them during the

next school year. After the student body elected its leaders,

the University received complaints about the fairness of the

election. In response, the Chancellor of the University com-

missioned an external review of the election, which uncov-

ered a multitude of election irregularities. So, in May 2013, the

Chancellor announced that the University would not recog-

nize the results of the election.

A student organization called “the student court” resched-

uled a new election to be held the following school year, in

October 2013. A soon-to-be-constituted student “board of

trustees” would be responsible for running the student gov-

ernment in the interim. The student court, in consultation

with the University’s administration (including Laliberte and

Stockton), created an application for the board positions. To

be considered for a position on the board, an applicant must

have been enrolled in classes at the University with at least a

2.0 GPA. The application also contained a statement of coop-

eration requiring each applicant to agree to cooperate in good

faith with the administration. But the application form did not

make clear that an applicant would have to be enrolled in Uni-

versity courses (for either the summer or fall), in order to be

considered for the position. This posed an eligibility problem

for students like Siddique who were not enrolled in summer

4 No. 19-2580

courses, or who had not yet enrolled in their fall courses,

when they submitted their applications.

Stockton was charged with screening the applications for

eligibility and forwarding all eligible applications to the stu-

dent court. Stockton also played a role in creating the applica-

tion requirements and the code of conduct.

As we mentioned, Siddique had successfully advocated

for student legislation to defund Stockton’s position. Siddique

applied for a position on the board, unaware that Stockton

was tasked with reviewing applications. When Siddique ap-

plied in June, he was not enrolled in fall classes. He had, how-

ever, completed classes in the spring, remained enrolled at the

University, and planned to enroll in classes for the fall semes-

ter. Stockton removed his application from the pool because

Siddique was not enrolled in fall classes when he submitted

his application.

Siddique received notice that his application was rejected.

According to the Defendants, it was denied because he was

not enrolled in fall classes and, therefore, did not meet the

stated criteria for a board position. But Siddique suspected

something more pernicious was afoot: he believed the De-

fendants rejected his application for the board because of his

critical speech against the Defendants.

When the newly selected board came together, Laliberte

and Stockton mentioned Siddique by name, and Laliberte re-

ferred to him as the “the Enforcer” of the “old SA.” Laliberte

and Stockton recommended that new board members ignore

previous student-government members who were disruptive,

uncooperative, and intimidating.

No. 19-2580 5

Siddique and other students turned to state and federal

court to review the events that transpired at the University

during the spring and summer of 2013. They brought a slew

of different claims against dozens of defendants in a series of

lawsuits (three state suits and this case) related to the “over-

throw” of the elected student government, among other

things. This federal case is the only continuing controversy;

the state suits were dismissed. A district court initially dis-

missed the federal case with prejudice based on the pleadings,

which Siddique appealed to our court. See UWM Student Ass’n

v. Lovell, 888 F.3d 854 (7th Cir. 2018). We affirmed the district

court’s dismissal of most claims but remanded for the court

to consider a small subset of other claims.

On remand, the suit was further narrowed to two claims:

one under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amend-

ment and a second under the First Amendment. The district

court dismissed the due process claim on the pleadings,

which Siddique does not appeal. His second claim alleges the

Defendants rejected Siddique’s application for the board in

retaliation for his critical speech about them, in violation of

the First Amendment. See, e.g., Bridges v. Gilbert, 557 F.3d 541,

546 (7th Cir. 2009) (To prevail on a First Amendment retalia-

tion claim, a plaintiff must show that “(1) he engaged in activ-

ity protected by the First Amendment; (2) he suffered a dep-

rivation that would likely deter First Amendment activity in

the future; and (3) the First Amendment activity was ‘at least

a motivating factor’ in the defendant’s decision to take the re-

taliatory action.” (citation omitted)). The Defendants moved

for summary judgment on the retaliation claim.

The district court concluded that Siddique had proffered

enough evidence on the merits of his retaliation claim to

6 No. 19-2580

proceed to trial. Construing the evidence in the light most fa-

vorable to Siddique, the court determined there were several

disputes of material fact about whether Siddique’s applica-

tion was rejected in retaliation for his speech—for example, a

reasonable jury could conclude based on the evidence that the

Defendants had the motive and means to prevent Siddique

from attaining a position on the board.

Siddique also proffered some evidence that a university-

wide policy requiring minimum enrollment for extra-curricu-

lar activities was inconsistently applied to students during the

summer. One student selected to serve on the board did not

recall being fully enrolled in classes when he submitted his

application. On the other hand, several students who sup-

ported Siddique were ultimately appointed to the board. Still,

the court surmised that a jury, viewing the evidence most fa-

vorably to Siddique, could conclude that the Defendants

crafted and arbitrarily applied the enrollment requirement

against Siddique to retaliate against him, in violation of the

First Amendment.

The claim did not proceed to trial, however, because the

district court concluded the claim was foreclosed by qualified

immunity. The court recognized as clearly established that a

state cannot act in retaliation against a person speaking criti-

cally of it, but it determined federal law had not clearly estab-

lished the narrower right of a student to participate in student

government under all circumstances. Because the right Sid-

dique sought to vindicate had not been clearly established,

the court granted summary judgment to the Defendants.

Siddique raises two arguments on appeal. First, he asserts

that the clear contours of the law defeat any alleged immun-

ity. Second, he argues that the Defendants are not qualifiedly

No. 19-2580 7

immune because they did not affirmatively prove they acted

within the scope of their authority.

We are not persuaded by either argument. Siddique

waived the second argument, and he did not present any

cases clearly establishing that reasonable actors in the Defend-

ants’ positions should have known that enforcing an enroll-

ment requirement on the board violated Siddique’s constitu-

tional rights. And to the extent that Siddique’s argument fo-

cuses on disparate enforcement of the enrollment require-

ment, we are not persuaded that his evidence (such as the rec-

ollections of a student who was selected) is sufficiently con-

crete to sustain his claim.

II. ANALYSIS

We review the district court’s grant of summary judgment

and the Defendants’ assertion of qualified immunity de novo.

Green v. Newport, 868 F.3d 629, 632 (7th Cir. 2017). We first ad-

dress whether the right Siddique seeks to vindicate was

clearly established under federal law. Then we turn to Sid-

dique’s argument about the scope of authority.

A. Qualified Immunity

Once the defense of qualified immunity is raised, the De-

fendants are entitled to dismissal unless (1) Siddique has

come forward with facts that, when viewed in a light most

favorable to him, constitute a violation of a federal constitu-

tional right, and (2) the right was “clearly established” at the

time of the alleged violation. Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800,

818 (1982). We review each criterion de novo, and if the answer

to either question is no, the Defendants are entitled to sum-

mary judgment. Green, 868 F.3d at 633. Siddique bears the

burden of demonstrating the right was clearly established

8 No. 19-2580

when the violation occurred, such that a reasonable public of-

ficial would have known his conduct was unlawful. Id. We

elect to resolve this case on the second part of the qualified

immunity test—whether the right was clearly established.

This appeal, in its current iteration, involves only a First

Amendment retaliation claim. Siddique alleges the Defend-

ants retaliated against him because of his speech. But when

we are determining whether qualified immunity attaches to

the Defendants’ actions, the right at issue cannot be articu-

lated so generally. Instead, we must “define carefully, and at

the right level of detail, the constitutional right” being as-

serted. Frederickson v. Landeros, 943 F.3d 1054, 1059 (7th Cir.

2019); see also White v. Pauly, 137 S. Ct. 548, 552 (2017) (per cu-

riam). For a right to be clearly established, “existing precedent

must have placed the statutory or constitutional question be-

yond debate.” Mullenix v. Luna, 136 S. Ct. 305, 308 (2015)

(quoting Ashcroft v. al-Kidd, 563 U.S. 731, 741 (2011)). And

while a case directly on point is not required, “the clearly es-

tablished law must be ‘particularized’ to the facts of the case.”

White, 137 S. Ct. at 552 (quoting Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S.

635, 640 (1987)).

The particulars of the constitutional right that Siddique

seeks to vindicate have been somewhat of a moving target

during the life of this case. We start with a theory of the right

advanced by Siddique throughout his briefing on appeal: it is

clearly established that the Defendants violated the First

Amendment when “they blocked Siddique’s public employ-

ment because they disapproved of his statements on issues of

public concern.” See Massey v. Johnson, 457 F.3d 711, 716 (7th

Cir. 2006) (describing elements of a First Amendment retalia-

tion claim for a government employee).

No. 19-2580 9

But Siddique did not pursue a public-employment theory

of his case at summary judgment. Employment by the gov-

ernment is a necessary component of a claim of public-em-

ployment retaliation. See id. (“To make out a prima facie case

of first amendment retaliation, a public employee must present

evidence … .”) (emphasis added). Yet Siddique marshalled no

evidence at summary judgment to show that his student-gov-

ernment position should be considered employment. Indeed,

Siddique’s reliance on a public-employment theory of retalia-

tion in the clearly established portion of his briefing is puz-

zling in light of the fact that Siddique later disavows the idea

that he was an employee of the University. For example, he

states that he “was not Defendants’ employee” and asserts

that “[s]tudent government is autonomous and independent,

and student government positions are paid from student fees

placed under de jure student control.” As such, the cases of

public-employment retaliation to which Siddique points in

his briefing on appeal are inapposite to determining whether

the Defendants’ rejection of Siddique’s application was a

clearly established violation of the First Amendment.

Because the right to public employment free from retalia-

tion is not at issue in this appeal, we turn our focus to the the-

ory of the case on which the district court did pass: whether

the Defendants violated the First Amendment when they re-

jected Siddique’s application to the board. Siddique relies on

a Wisconsin statute, and Wisconsin cases interpreting that

statute, to show that federal law clearly established that the

“Defendants were prohibited from blocking Siddique from a

student government position.” See. Wis. Stat. § 36.09(5);

10 No. 19-2580

Student Ass’n of Univ. of Wis.–Milwaukee v. Baum, 74 Wis. 2d

283, 287–88 (1976).2

Siddique’s reliance on an alleged violation of state law as

a de facto violation of federal constitutional law misses the

mark. See Davis v. Scherer, 468 U.S. 183, 194 (1984) (“Officials

sued for constitutional violations do not lose their qualified

immunity merely because their conduct violates some [state]

statutory or administrative provision.”); Frederickson, 943 F.3d

at 1057 (considering qualified immunity and framing the is-

sue as whether a police officer “violated [the Plaintiff’s] fed-

eral rights, not whether [the officer] was misinterpreting a

state law”). A violation of state law, in and of itself, can be

pertinent if federal law assigns it weight, or if we determined

a departure from state law or policies should inform our con-

stitutional analysis. But Siddique argued nothing of the sort.

He does not point to a single federal case applying sec-

tion 36.09(5) of the Wisconsin Statutes or Baum to adjudicate

a First Amendment retaliation claim. And we have found no

cases from our court or the Supreme Court addressing the

bounds of First Amendment retaliation in the student-govern-

ment context, much less in the factual context presented by

Siddique.

In essence, Siddique depends on Wisconsin law to set the

bounds for clearly established federal law. But that reliance is

misguided. The question is not whether the Defendants were

put on notice that their actions may have violated state law;

2 Wisconsin law protects the rights of students to actively participate in

student governance. See Wis. Stat. § 36.09(5). This statute allows students

to organize themselves in “a manner they determine and to select their

representatives to participate in institutional governance.” Id.

No. 19-2580 11

the question is whether the Defendants’ actions violated

clearly established federal law. And on that score, the last word

does not belong to state law or the Wisconsin Supreme Court;

it belongs to federal law, or a decision of our court interpret-

ing federal law, that would have put the Defendants on notice

that their actions violated Siddique’s constitutional rights. No

such clearly established law exists.

As a backstop, Siddique relies on labor law “because of the

obvious analogy between the legislative command for a com-

pany not to interfere with employees’ organizing a union and

selecting representatives, and the judicial command in Baum

for a university not to interfere with students’ organizing a

government and electing representatives.” But not one of the

many labor cases on which Siddique relies involves an appli-

cation of the First Amendment. We fail to see how these cases

applying the National Labor Relations Act can indicate—

much less clearly establish—that enforcement of an enroll-

ment requirement on a student-government position

amounts to unconstitutional First Amendment retaliation. It

stretches credulity to assert that these cases put Defendants

on notice that their actions toward Siddique violated his con-

stitutional rights.

In the end, we are left without any analogous comparators

applying First Amendment retaliation principles to student-

government operations. As such, Siddique has not met his

burden in coming forward with clearly established federal

law that places “the statutory or constitutional question be-

yond debate.” Mullenix, 136 S. Ct. at 308 (quoting Ashcroft, 563

at 741).

12 No. 19-2580

B. Discretionary Functions

We turn briefly to Siddique’s other argument on appeal.

Siddique contends there is a necessary predicate to our appli-

cation of qualified immunity: defendants who wish to cloak

themselves with the protection afforded by qualified immun-

ity must first prove they were acting in a discretionary capac-

ity. As support, he invokes this language from Harlow, 457

U.S. at 818: “government officials performing discretionary

functions generally are shielded from liability for civil dam-

ages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly estab-

lished statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable

person would have known.” He also relies on a recent case

from the Eleventh Circuit. See Estate of Cummings v. Davenport,

906 F.3d 934, 940 (11th Cir. 2018), cert. denied, 139 S. Ct. 2746

(2019) (“[T]he official bears the initial burden of raising the

defense of qualified immunity by proving that he was acting

within his authority.”). But see Seiser v. City of Chicago, 762 F.3d

647, 658–59 (7th Cir. 2014).

Whatever the merits of this argument, it was not presented

below. Siddique’s argument against summary judgment did

not rest on a contention that the Defendants acted outside the

scope of their authority. His summary-judgment briefing in-

cludes only one passing reference to “discretion” in the final

sentence: “The intermeddling of the Defendants in the sover-

eign affairs of students exercising their right to organize

themselves without interference was neither due to a gray

area of law nor a reasonable exercise of discretion.”

We’ve consistently held that a party forfeits an argument

not raised before the district court. Hildreth v. Butler, 960 F.3d

No. 19-2580 13

420, 426 n.3 (7th Cir. 2020). Siddique’s failure to raise this

point below cripples our review. Scope-of-authority ques-

tions are inherently fact bound, and we cannot make an ade-

quate determination about the scope of the Defendants’ au-

thority without a developed record.

We AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.