In Brown v. City of Tulsa, 124 F.4th 1251 (10th Cir. 2025), involving a former police officer’s First Amendment retaliation claim under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 (Section 1983), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held that conducting Pickering balancing at the motion to dismiss stage is almost always improper. Several other circuit courts have also commented that Pickering balancing in the retaliation context is generally incompatible with the Rule 12(b)(6) standard. But the Tenth Circuit’s holding in Brown draws a more definite line in the sand.
Relevant Allegations of the Complaint