Failure to State a Claim Defendants argue that the Plaintiffs Michelle and James Moriarity fail to state a claim in this case because they are alleging that they were retaliated against for speech by Michelle’s parents Michael and Sally Moran. Generally speaking, individuals have no standing to assert § 1983 claims to vindicate the rights of a third party and, as such, cannot assert claims of retaliation against speech by another individual. See Morris v. Lindau, 196 F.3d 102, 113 (2d Cir.1999). In response, the Moriaritys claim a violation of the First Amendment right of intimate association, which has, at least in some circumstances, been applied to allow individuals to state claims based on retaliation for another’s speech. See Adler v. Patalci, 185 F.3d 35, 44 (2d Cir.1999) (<HOLDING>). Supreme Court precedent suggests that this
holding that plaintiff had stated a claim for violation of his first amendment right to intimate association where he alleged that his employer harassed him in retaliation for his fathers political activities holding that retaliatory discharge based solely on protected speech by ones spouse is actionable under the first amendment holding that not all adverse action taken against a public employee in retaliation for exercising first amendment rights is sufficient to support a cause of action under  1983 holding that an adverse action taken solely against a spouse in retaliation for conduct of the other spouse should be analyzed as a claimed violation of a first amendment right of intimate association recognizing first amendment retaliation right