Debra R. Thompson v. State of Delaware Department of Services for Children, et al.

Wilmington, Delaware civil rights lawyers represented Plaintiff, who sued Defendants under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of her right to due process and under state law against the State of Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth and their Families ("DSCYF”) and several individual defendants after Thompson was demoted and eventually terminated from DSCYF. The District Court dismissed Thompson's federal procedural due process claims on the ground that, as a former probationary employee at DSCYF, Thompson did not have a protected property interest in her employment. The District Court also dismissed Thompson's claim brought pursuant to the Delaware Whistleblowers' Protection Act ("WPA”) on the ground that the Eleventh Amendment precluded the claim. The District Court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Thompson's remaining state law claims, and Thompson does not challenge this discretionary ruling. Thompson appeals, focusing mainly upon her procedural due process claims. An issue central to this appeal is whether probationary employees working for the State of Delaware have a constitutionally protected property right in continued employment or in the retention of a particular position or rank for the purpose of federal procedural due process. We hold that they do not and conclude that Thompson's due process claim was properly dismissed. In addition, we hold that the District Court properly dismissed Thompson's WPA claim because the WPA does not evince a clear intention by the State of Delaware to subject itself to suit in federal court. We will thus affirm the District Court's order.

Affirmed