Baum Hedlund Secures Settlement in First Amendment Case Against Irvine Mayor
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The law firm of Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman has reached a settlement agreement on behalf of client Lamar West in his civil rights case against Irvine, California Mayor Christina Shea.
The City of Irvine will pay a sum of money to Mr. West on behalf of Mayor Shea to settle allegations that the mayor violated Mr. West's First Amendment rights by blocking him from posting on her personal Facebook profile after West was critical of online comments Shea made concerning the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.
Filed on July 20, 2020, the complaint alleged Mayor Shea used her Facebook profile as a public forum and committed viewpoint discrimination and censorship when she blocked Mr. West from engaging in open discourse on systemic racism and police misconduct. Mr. West further alleged that Mayor Shea blocked several other commenters from her Facebook profile.