Skipping the process was only the start - what she said next became its own claim
A Cincinnati city manager fired her fire chief with no hearing - after her own lawyers said he needed one. Now his lawsuit moves forward.
The former chief spent nearly three decades with the Cincinnati Fire Department before taking the top job in May 2021. Less than two years later, on March 24, 2023, the city manager called him to City Hall and terminated him on the spot. Two human resources representatives sat in. He got no pretermination hearing.
That missing hearing anchors the case. On August 13, 2026, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the lower court, holding that the city manager could not claim immunity on either the due process or the defamation claim.
Cincinnati's charter let the fire chief be removed at will for six months, then only "for cause." He had passed that mark by late 2021. Under long-standing Supreme Court precedent, an employee who can be fired only for cause is owed notice and a chance to respond first. Skipping that, the court said, broke clearly established law.
The city pointed to a memo the chief signed at his promotion. It called the job "unclassified" and said he could be dismissed "without cause at any time." That, the city argued, waived his rights. The court disagreed. Waiving constitutional protections takes "clear and unmistakable language," it said, and the memo never mentioned the charter or due process.
One fact stood out. The city...
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