Wood v. Tesch

Plaintiff-appellant, Dennis Wood, sued defendantsappellees, Fred Tesch, the sheriff of Cass County, and said county, alleging that they wrongfully terminated his employment as a deputy sheriff. The district court sustained the defendants’ motion for “summary judgment” and dismissed Wood’s petition. In this appeal Wood assigns error to the district court’s ruling that, as an at-will governmental employee, his employment could be terminated “at the will of the appointing officer,” without reference to his right of free speech as provided by the first and fourteenth amendments to the U.S.…