Duncan v. CITY OF ONEIDA, TENN.

OPINION AS RENDERED FROM THE BENCH

ROBERT L. TAYLOR, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff, Larry M. Duncan, brought this action for denial of procedural due process in connection with his termination as a police officer with the City of Oneida, Tennessee. To be entitled to guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause, he must show that he had a property interest in continued employment at the time of his termination. The Supreme Court in Perry v. Sindermann, an opinion written by Mr. Justice Potter Stewart, defined the necessary interest as follows:

A person’s interest in a benefit is a…