UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _______________

No. 22-1866 ____________

PAUL MONTEMURO

v.

JIM THORPE AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT; GLENN CONFER, individually and as School Board Member; DENNIS MCGINLEY, individually and as School Board Member; RANIERO MARCIANTE, individually and as School Board Member; PEARL DOWNS-SHECKLER individually and as School Board Member; GERALD STRUBINGER, individually and as School Board Member, Appellants _______________

On Appeal from the United States District Court For the Middle District of Pennsylvania (D.C. No. 3-20-cv-00208) District Judge: Honorable Robert D. Mariani _______________

Argued January 18, 2024 Before: JORDAN, BIBAS, and AMBRO, Circuit Judges

(Filed: May 1, 2024) _______________ David W. Brown Michael I. Levin [ARGUED] Levin Legal Group 1800 Byberry Road 1301 Masons Mill Business Park Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006 Counsel for Appellants William E. Vinsko, Jr. [ARGUED] 37 N. River Street Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702 Counsel for Appellee _______________

OPINION OF THE COURT _______________ JORDAN, Circuit Judge.

Paul Montemuro was elected President of the Jim Thorpe Area School Board (the “School Board” or “Board”). But then, a week later, the Board elected someone else. Montemuro received no notice of the change beforehand, so he sued the Board members who voted to oust him, along with the Jim Thorpe Area School District (the “District”) for depriving him of property without due process, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Fourteenth Amendment. The defendant Board members and District (collectively, the “Defendants”) asserted

2 qualified immunity, but the District Court held that Montemuro had a clearly established property right in his employment and had been deprived of that right without due process. Because Pennsylvania law clearly establishes that Montemuro had a property interest in his job as the Board President, and because we must accept as true his allegation that he was removed from office without notice, we will affirm. I. BACKGROUND

The Jim Thorpe Area School District is located in Carbon County, Pennsylvania. Paul Montemuro served with Glenn Confer, Dennis McGinley, Pearl Downs-Sheckler, Raniero Marciante, and Gerald Strubinger as members of the School Board. On December 4, 2019, a majority of the Board elected Montemuro to be President of the Board. For reasons not apparent on the record, a week later, the Board elected a new president. Montemuro claims that the Board did not notify him of its plan to reorganize, nor did it provide him a hearing before his ouster. He responded by suing the District and the Board members who voted against him for depriving him of his property interest in the position of Board President without due process and in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Fourteenth Amendment. He raised other federal and state claims, none of which are relevant at this point.

The Defendants moved to dismiss, asserting, among other things, qualified immunity as an affirmative defense. A Magistrate Judge recommended that the District Court deny the motion to dismiss for qualified immunity because Montemuro had a “clearly established” property right and was fired without due process. (J.A. at 26.) The Court adopted the Magistrate Judge’s report and recommendation and denied the

3 motion to dismiss for qualified immunity. The Defendants filed the interlocutory appeal on the qualified immunity question that is before us now. II. DISCUSSION1