Gomez v. Toledo
United States Supreme Court
446 U.S. 635 (1980)
Gomez (plaintiff), a Puerto Rico police agent, was transferred and stripped of investigative authority after reporting fellow agents' evidence falsification, then was charged with illegal wiretapping, suspended, and discharged without a hearing before being reinstated after the wiretapping charge was found baseless. He sued the police superintendent Toledo (defendant) under Section 1983 for due-process violations; the district court dismissed for failure to state a claim, reasoning Gomez needed to plead that Toledo acted in bad faith to overcome qualified immunity, which Gomez had not done.
Whether a Section 1983 plaintiff must plead that the defendant public official acted in bad faith in order to state a claim.