(United States Third Circuit) - In a First Amendment retaliation claim brought against a state employee charged with assessing the clinical progress of a civilly committed sexually violent predator,in connection with her recommendation that he not advance to the next phase of his treatment program, the district court's denial of defendant's motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity is reversed where, or because the detainee has pleaded facts reflecting that the medical professional based her recommendation on the medically relevant collateral consequences of his protected activity,but has not sufficiently pleaded that the recommendation was based on the protected activity itself, the detainee has not alleged the essential causation to state a prima facie case of retaliation.
Source: findlaw.com