Vendor Revives Speech Suit Over Contract Lost for Anti-BLM Op-Ed

A federal appeals court on Monday revived a security contractor’s First Amendment lawsuit against West Des Moines, Iowa, over the termination of the firm’s contract with the city after the owner’s anti-Black Lives Matter op-ed was published in a local newspaper.

A lower court improperly dismissed the Conley Group Inc.'s First Amendment retaliation claim after finding that the city’s alleged retaliation was directed against the speech of the firm’s founder Tom Conley rather than the company’s speech, the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said. The US District Court for the District of Iowa failed to adequately ...