Federal judge guts Kent Davis’s lawsuit against Governor Ivey

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September 14, 2026

A federal judge has dismantled most of former Alabama Veterans Affairs Commissioner Kent Davis’ sprawling lawsuit against Governor Kay Ivey, and is now giving Davis until Thursday to explain why his last remaining federal claim should not meet the same fate.

U.S. District Judge Bill Lewis wrote in a 30-page order that Davis “has failed to allege that any of this speech was made as a citizen on a matter of public concern.”

Davis, who led ADVA from 2019 until Ivey removed him in October 2024, sued the Governor in June 2025 in an eight-count, 75-page complaint alleging his firing violated his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights and Alabama law.

Ivey’s attorneys, William Bloom and Jordan LaPorta of Maynard Nexsen, moved in August 2025 to dismiss the lawsuit in full, and Thursday’s order granted them most of what they asked for

Davis alleged Ivey fired him in retaliation for the ethics complaint he filed against Alabama Department of Mental Health Commissioner Kim Boswell in July 2024 and for his public criticism of the Legislature and the Governor. Lewis wrote that the ethics complaint was part of Davis’s job.

“He does not allege that he would have made the ethics complaint as a private citizen if he had not been required to,” Lewis wrote. “Instead, he emphasizes that he was legally required to file the complaint as part of his role as Commissioner.”

“Here, the Plaintiff filed a confidential ethics complaint with an official body,” Lewis added. “This supports a finding that the complaint was not speech on a matter of public concern.”

Davis’s other alleged speech failed because he “does not include any allegations about the form of the speech or the context within which the statements were made,” Lewis wrote.

“Count I is due to be dismissed.”

Ivey demanded Davis’s resignation in 2024 after accusing his agency of mishandling $7 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. Davis agreed four days later to resign effective December 31, 2024.

On the due process claim, Lewis rejected Ivey’s argument that Davis had no property interest in the job, writing that under the old law “it appears that the Plaintiff possessed a property right in his employment as Commissioner.” He then wrote that the claim “is likely due to be dismissed for a separate reason” the Governor’s attorneys never raised.

“Alabama courts have the power to review employment termination cases,” Lewis wrote. “The Plaintiff therefore has an available, adequate remedy in the state system.”

“It appears that he has not suffered a violation of his procedural due process rights because the State of Alabama has not ‘refuse[d] to make available a means to remedy the deprivation,’” Lewis wrote. “The Plaintiff does not allege that the remedies available in state court were insufficient.”

Because Ivey’s motion never raised the issue, Lewis ordered Davis to “SHOW CAUSE on or before September 17, 2026, as to why Count II should not be dismissed with prejudice for failure to state a claim.”

Lewis also ruled that Davis cannot collect money damages from Ivey in her official capacity as Governor, writing that Davis “does not offer any argument on this issue.”

Davis’s five state-law claims, including wrongful termination, defamation and invasion of privacy, would leave federal court with the due process claim.

“If Count II, like Count I, is due to be dismissed, the court will decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state-law claims,” Lewis wrote.

He will enter a final order on Ivey’s motion after receiving Davis’s brief.

Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.