Litigation Associate, Fran Notarianni, argued on behalf of former Philadelphia mayoral hopeful Jeff Brown to a Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court panel regarding governmental immunity, high public official immunity, and the right to a “name-clearing hearing” for an alleged violation of the right to reputation under Article I, Section 1 of the Pennsylvania Constitution. The case stems from a 2023 lawsuit filed by the City’s Board of Ethics against For A Better Philadelphia PAC, in which the Board accused Brown of improperly coordinating with the PAC during his mayoral campaign. In that case, a Philadelphia judge ruled that the Board’s coordination claim failed because Brown was not a candidate at the time of his alleged involvement with the PAC. Thereafter, Brown, David Maser, and the PAC filed the lawsuit that Fran argued in Commonwealth Court. The trial court dismissed the lawsuit on the basis that the Board was entitled to statutory immunity, the Board’s Executive Director was entitled to high public official immunity, and there was no remedy to a name-clearing hearing for a violation of one’s right to reputation under Article I, Section 1. Fran argued to the panel that the lower court erred in its immunity rulings and in dismissing Brown’s and Maser’s constitutional claims as lacking a remedy.
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