Lewis v. Paramo

Summary

The United States District Court for the Southern District of California granted Defendant R. Esquilin’s unopposed motion for summary judgment in Brian Deverick Lewis’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 First Amendment retaliation action. The court concluded that the retaliation claim relied on inadmissible hearsay and that the evidence did not show Esquilin took an adverse action against Lewis, and it ordered the case dismissed and closed.

Holdings

1. A court may not grant summary judgment solely because the nonmoving party failed to oppose the motion; it must determine whether the movant independently demonstrated entitlement to judgment as a matter of law and the absence of a genuine dispute of material fact.
2. Summary judgment was warranted because Lewis failed to produce evidence creating a genuine dispute that Esquilin took an adverse action against him.
3. The court could not consider the hearsay account of the alleged conversation for its truth on summary judgment, and the claim failed without that evidence.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the court could grant an unopposed motion for summary judgment without treating the failure to oppose as an automatic concession.
2. Whether Lewis presented admissible evidence creating a genuine dispute that Esquilin took an adverse action against him in retaliation for protected First Amendment activity.
3. Whether the alleged conversation between Esquilin and Fred Dog could be considered on summary judgment despite its hearsay character.

Disposition

dismissed