Brian Menge v. Khursheed Ash-Shafii

── Brian Menge v. Khursheed Ash-Shafii ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Date: April 08, 2026 Category: General NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 26a0160n.06 No. 25-1698 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED Apr 08, 2026 ) BRIAN MENGE, KELLY L. STEPHENS, Clerk ) Plaintiff-Appellee, ) ) ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED v. ) STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR ) THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF KHURSHEED ASH-SHAFII, ) MICHIGAN Defendant-Appellant. ) ) OPINION Before: GILMAN, KETHLEDGE, and HERMANDORFER, Circuit Judges. HERMANDORFER, Circuit Judge. Highland Park City Councilman Khursheed Ash- Shafii asserted during a City Council meeting that Brian Menge, a former detective, had previously stolen from the City’s forfeiture fund. According to Menge, that statement was false. So Menge sued Ash-Shafii under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Michigan law, asserting First Amendment retaliation and other claims. At the summary-judgment phase, the district court denied Ash-Shafii qualified immunity from the First Amendment retaliation claim. Because Ash-Shafii did not violate Menge’s clearly established First Amendment rights, we reverse. I Brian Menge joined the City of Highland Park Police Department in 2014 as a patrol officer. A few years into Menge’s tenure, one of Menge’s coworkers sued the City after the City terminated the coworker. In February 2019, Menge—by that time a detective—gave deposition No. 25-1698, Menge v. Ash-Shafii testimony in his coworker’s lawsuit that displeased Highland Park’s then-Mayor. The Mayor responded by ordering Menge’s demotion from detective to patrol officer. Menge sued the City in January 2021, claiming that the City had demoted him in violation of various federal and state statutes. While that lawsuit proceeded, Menge formed an independent private-investigation company. He then resigned from the Highland Park Police Department. In October 2022, Menge agreed to release his claims against the City in exchange for $560,000. And by early 2023, Menge was putting “110 percent” into his private-investigation business. Menge Dep., R.103-6, PageID 2460. Menge, however, desired to return to the Highland Park Police Department. To that end, in March 2023 Menge spoke at a Highland Park Police and Fire Commission meeting and fielded questions from attendees. But Menge never formally applied for a job with the Police Department. Khursheed Ash-Shafii, a Highland Park City Councilman, opposed Menge’s attempt to rejoin the Police Department. After the above-described Commission meeting ended, Ash-Shafii posted a video recording of the meeting on his Facebook page and wrote: “This is shameful Officer minge was fired and sue the city he received half million dollar 500,000 settlement no way in hell they should bring this officer back!!!!!” Facebook Post, R.112-7, PageID 3830. On April 3, 2023, the Highland Park City Council—Highland Park’s legislative body— held a regular meeting that citizens could attend in person or virtually; a video of the meeting was later uploaded to Facebook. Items on the meeting agenda included reading an ordinance to amend the Highland Park Administrative Code, addressing various “Community Dev