# W. Thomas Jackson, M.D. v. Richard Leighton

> Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · February 22, 1999 · 168 F.3d 903

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9491900

## Case

- **Full name:** W. Thomas JACKSON, M.D., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Richard LEIGHTON, Et Al., Defendants-Appellees
- **Court:** Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- **Decided:** February 22, 1999
- **Citations:** 168 F.3d 903; 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 2653; 1999 WL 79381
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Moore
- **Judges:** Daughtrey, Moore, Cohn
- **Cited by:** 69 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9491900

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- holding that an employee’s statements about a proposal to merge the state medical college with a public hospital constituted a public concern because “the continued existence of [the medical college] was important to the locality due to the fact that [the medical college] prov…
- holding that a physician-employee’s comments relating to a proposed merger between his employer-medical college and a hospital addressed a matter of public concern, but that his interest in speaking on this issue was outweighed by the interest of the college and its administra…
- holding that the state hospital employee’s statement advocating “that a letter be sent to the Board of Trustees declaring the lack of confidence with [the administrator] was nothing more than an example of the ‘quintessential employee beef of incompetent management”
- finding that medical college’s interest in efficient and effective administration of programs outweighed physician’s interests where physician’s comments “created internal conflict resulting in a departmental upheaval’ ”
- finding internal personal grievances constitute the “quintessential employee beef’ of incompetent management

## Opinion text

MOORE, Circuit Judge,
concurring in the result.
I concur in the result reached by the majority. I would affirm solely for the reasons stated in Part II.D. of the majority opinion. *913 Jackson failed to meet his burden of pointing to evidence showing that his protected speech was a substantial and motivating factor in the non-renewal decision.

---

Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9491900. Public record. Not legal advice.
