Due Process Clause of 14th Amendment does not require municipalities provide pre-termination hearing where employee’s position is eliminated following good faith government reorganization.

The plaintiff was chief of police from 2006 until the Township eliminated the department in 2016. In March 2016, the supervisors passed a resolution and enacted an ordinance eliminating the department. The plaintiff pursued multiple claims, one of which alleged violation of his 14th Amendment procedural due process rights. The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of the Township, finding no pre-termination hearing was required. 

The Third Circuit affirmed. Applying the “reorganization exception to due process[,]” the court emphasized that when governments reorganize in good faith, their decisions concern positions—not individuals. Thus, in reorganization cases, there are no charges against the employee and there is no reason to hold an individual hearing for a matter of public concern. However, the exception does not apply when “the abolition was a mere pretense or subterfuge[,]” designed to evade a court order, or be evidenced by the recreation of substantially the same job under a different name or title.
 

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