Poirier v. Massachusetts Department of Correction

STAHL, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff-Appellant Melissa Poirier brought a civil rights claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Massachusetts Department of Corrections (DOC) and Kathleen Dennehy, its Commissioner. 1 Poirier, a former DOC prison guard, claimed that her constitutional right to intimate association was violated when she was fired for conducting a romantic relationship with a former inmate, in violation of department rules. The district court dismissed the action for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6), concluding that the DOC’s actions survived rational basis review. Poirier…