By Jim Cline and Peter Haller
In Hussey v Cambridge, a police officer sued after he was suspended for four days without pay following a Facebook post he made criticizing a police reform bill named after George Floyd. The Court held that the officer’s First Amendment rights were not violated because the officer’s right to free speech was outweighed by the City’s interest in promoting community trust.
By Jim Cline and Peter Haller
In Noon v. Smedley,the Federal 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered that two Illinois police officers be reinstated after they had been fired in retaliation for expressing negative sentiments about the chief of police. The court held that the officers’ speech was protected under the first amendment.
By Jim Cline and Mark Anderson
In Bagby v. City of Morristown, a Tennessee court ordered a trial for Officer Bagby’s claim that the City of Morristown Police Department violated his freedom of speech by firing him in retaliation for comments he made at a City Council meeting.
By Jim Cline and Mark Anderson
In Gregg v. City of Houston, a Texas police officer prevailed on a motion to dismiss his claims for harassment and retaliation after he was sexually harassed by a female coworker for several years, and then ostracized by coworkers after he reported the harassment. The court found that Officer Michael Gregg met each of the required elements to proceed to trial on his Title VII hostile work environment claim and his retaliation claim.
[Read more…]By Mark Anderson and Beth Touschner
In Brady v. Tamburini, a Rhode Island police detective prevailed in his First Amendment free speech lawsuit after being disciplined for speaking with the news media. The court found that the police department’s policy prohibiting officers from speaking to the media ran afoul of First Amendment free speech protections. It also found that several other department policies, for which Detective James Brady was disciplined, were improper as applied to him.
By: Loyd Willaford and Clive Pontusson
In Carey v. Throwe, a federal court determined that misleading statements made by former colleagues and supervisors of a police officer were not retaliation for exercise of his First Amendment rights, because his comments were not protected by the First Amendment. Because Norris Carey’s statements were not about a “matter of public concern” they were not protected, and therefore he was not a victim of unlawful retaliation. His lawsuit was dismissed by the Court. [Read more…]
By: Loyd Willaford and Matt Baker
In Helget v. City of Hays, a former administrative secretary to a police department claimed that her First Amendment rights were violated after she was terminated for testifying about confidential information. The department argued that the speech was not protected because it did not touch on a matter in the public interest and it disrupted department functions. The Tenth Circuit Court agreed and dismissed the administrative secretary’s claims. [Read more…]
By: Loyd Willaford Clive Pontusson
In Billioni v. Bryant, the U.S. Court of Appeals found that a trial court had applied an incorrect legal standard to an Officer’s claim that his First Amendment right to free speech had been violated. Billioni was an employee of the York County Detention Center who discussed video footage of the alleged beating of a detainee with the press. When he was fired for doing so, he filed a lawsuit claiming he had a right under the First Amendment to bring this information to the public. This raised complex legal issues, and the U.S. Court of Appeals issued a narrow ruling regarding the test for when a government employee may share confidential information that may be of concern to the public. Billioni’s lawsuit will therefore continue in a lower court. [Read more…]
By: Loyd Willaford and Matt Baker
In Sprague v. Spokane Valley Fire Dep’t, a fire department captain was fired for sending emails to his coworkers containing Biblical themes and verses from scripture. The civil service commission upheld the firing as permissible. The fire department captain sued the department in court and appealed to the Washington Supreme Court. The court held that the state agency’s decision against the captain did not bar his lawsuit, and that the captain’s emails were protected by the First Amendment. [Read more…]
By: Loyd Willaford and Clive Pontusson
In Barone v. City of Springfield, a Community Service Officer from Oregon sued her Police Department for violating her free speech rights. Despite the fact that Thelma Barone had been hired to handle complaints of racial profiling by the department, she was fired for speaking out about issues of racial discrimination. The federal Court of Appeals ruled that a last chance agreement offered by her employer was too restrictive, because it did not allow her to share information about the Police Department with the general public.
