Opinion
No. 07-2908.
Submitted Under Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) May 23, 2008.
Filed June 5, 2008.
On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (D.C. Civil No. 04-cv-00265J), District Judge: The Honorable Kim R. Gibson.
Stephen D. Wicks, Altoona, PA, for Appellants.
Stephen J. Poljak, Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman Goggin, Pittsburgh, PA, for Appellee.
Before: SMITH, HARDIMAN, and NYGAARD, Circuit Judges.
OPINION OF THE COURT
This matter has been before us previously on interlocutory appeal. The factual background remains unchanged. See Heller v. Fulare, 454 F.3d 174 (3d Cir. 2006). Ronald C. Heller, John R. Flinn, Matthew W. Lindsey, Otto G. Barton, II, and Chris William Bender filed a civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging employment discrimination through retaliation in violation of their rights under the First Amendment to free speech. After protracted litigation, the District Court granted summary judgment on this remaining § 1983 claim against the Appellees.
We have appellate jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we review de novo an order granting summary judgment. Saldana v. Kmart Corp., 260 F.3d 228, 231 (3d Cir. 2001). Judge Gibson's opinion is a thorough statement of his reasoning and fully supports his order. No further refutation of the Appellants' allegations of error is indicated. Hence, we will not further opine or offer additional explanations and reasons beyond those given by the District Court. It is sufficient to say that, essentially for the reasons given by the District Court in its opinion dated the 14th day of June, 2007, 2007 WL 1726521, we will affirm.