New Jersey teacher’s job in jeopardy over Facebook post disparaging students

A New Jersey elementary school teacher may lose her job for calling her students “future criminals.” An administrative law judge said she should be fired. The teacher intended that her comments be seen only by  her Facebook friends. -db From a commentary in Mobiledia, November 11, 2011, by Janet Maragioglio. Full story  

U.S. diplomat suspended for publishing book criticizing Iraq war policy

The Obama administration suspended Foreign Services Officer Peter Van Buren for his book critical of the State Department operations in Iraq. Van Buren also installed a link to WikiLeaks on his blog. “No one was particularly concerned about what we were doing, how much money we were spending, and the results of our endeavors,”  Van [...]

Free speech: Los Angeles policeman posts photo of dead boy on Twitter

When a Los Angeles police detective posted a photo of a murder victim on Twitter, questions arose about the propriety of the post and the policeman’s free speech rights. Even though the Los Angeles Police Department does not have a policy on the use of social media, they asked the detective to forego posting details [...]

Teacher loses free speech case over display of ‘In God We Trust’ banner

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals invoked the Supreme Court decision Garcetti v. Caballos in ruling that a math teacher does not have a First Amendment right to display banners with such messages as “In God We Trust” in his classroom. Garcetti established that public employees have no right to free speech when speaking [...]

Federal court decision lightens load of Garcetti v. Caballos

A former probationary  officer, Jason M. Jackler,  fired for refusing to recant his complaint of an excessive force complaint against a police officer, was vindicated in federal court, bringing some sanity to the Garcetti v. Caballos Supreme Court decision. Garcetti established a rule stripping public employees of their free speech rights if they are speaking [...]

Federal court reinstates suit against police department for free speech violation

A federal appeals court said a former Middletown, New York  police officer could sue his police department over his firing after  the department allegedly asked him to lie about an excessive force claim against a fellow officer. A lower court had ruled that the officer had no standing to sue since his speech was part [...]

College publications director wins first round in case over speech criticizing employer

Operating under the umbrella of the Supreme Court decision limiting employee speech, a college publications director won the first round in a lawsuit against her college for firing her for saying that the college forced employees to do political work. A federal district  judge reinstated he woman’s suit saying that as a statement on corruption, [...]

Federal appeals court rules employees reporting fraud can be punished for talking to media

A law on whistle-blowers does not protect them from retaliation if they take their case to the media, ruled a federal appeals court in San Francisco. The 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act only protects whistle-blowers if they report suspected fraud to federal regulators, Congress or a workplace supervisor. In so ruling the court upheld the dismissal of [...]

New Jersey transit worker gets job back after fired for buring pages of Quran at ground zero protest

A veteran New Jersey transit employee was reinstated in his job after he was fired for burning pages of the Quran while off duty in a protest over the Islamic community center near ground zero in New York City. Under the settlement, the man also got $25,000 for pain and suffering, back pay and legal [...]

Wikileaks case: State Department official resigns after criticizing treatment of leaker

A State Department spokesman was forced to resign for comments critical of the treatment of Pfc. Bradley Manning, in jail for allegedly releasing classified documents to WikiLeaks. Manning has been forced to surrender his clothing each night to prevent him from committing suicide. The forced nudity is seen by many as degrading and punitive treatment. [...]

Free speech: Philadelphia schools may fire teacher for expressing her views

The Philadelphia Public School District removed a teacher from her classroom, locked her in a hot room and threatened to fire her for opposing turning her school into a charter school. The teacher expressed her views at a public meeting and on a blog. The teacher’s union president said it was unprecedented for the district [...]

Legal action over employee use of social media mounts

The Wall Street Journal Analysis January 21, 2011 By Jeanette Borzo When companies dismiss employees for what they consider harmful use of social media, the dismissals can backfire on the companies involving them in expensive lawsuits and damaging their reputations. -db

First Amendment scholar hopes Supreme Court does not limit public employee free speech rights

First Amendment Center’s David Hudson hopes that in deciding whether voting by elected officials is a form of free speech, the U.S. Supreme Court does not apply Garcetti v. Ceballos which severely limits employees’ free speech rights. -db First Amendment Center Jandudary 11, 2011 By David L. Hudson Jr. The U.S. Supreme Court will decide [...]

Texas cheerleader refusing to cheer for attacker sues for free speech rights

An ex-Texas high school cheerleader is appealing a verdict by the federal appeals court that held that her school was within their rights to kick her off the cheerleading squad when she refused to cheer for a basketball player accused of raping her. -db San Francisco Chronicle Analysis November 5, 2010 By Bob Egelko If [...]

Federal appeals court rejects high school teacher’s claim of academic freedom in choosing curriculum

Citing the restrictions on employee speech in the 2006 Supreme Court decision Garcetti v. Ceballos, the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals rejected an Ohio English teacher’s claim that a school district violated her First Amendment rights for firing her after she made a controversial assignment about book-banning. -db First Amendment Center October 25, 2010 By [...]

Fired Omaha police employee loses free speech case

A federal appeals court upheld a lower court decision ruling that an Omaha public safety auditor had not shown that she was speaking as a citizen when she criticized the police force. -db Omaha World-Herald October 21, 2010 By Bob Glissmann Tristan Bonn, who was fired four years ago from her job as the City of [...]

Special-ed teacher fired for objecting to paddling of autistic student

A federal district court ruled that because her speech was work-related, a special-ed teacher could be fired for opposing the paddling of one of her autustic students for disruptive behavior. -db First Amendment Center February 12, 2010 By David L. Hudson Jr. A special-education teacher in Booneville, Miss., who complained about corporal punishment of an [...]

State policeman’s complaint about lead exposure not protected under First Amendment

Federal courts have ruled that when an Illinois State Police officer complained about lead exposure on the firing range, his complaint did not raise public health issues and consequently was private and not protected under the First Amendment. -DB First Amendment Center January 11, 2010 By David L. Hudson Jr. An Illinois State Police officer [...]

California court rejects Brown Act argument in upholding firing of librarian

A California appeals court upheld the firing of a San Diego law librarian for a scathing e-mail he sent to his employer. The court removed the librarian’s free speech claims to federal court and rejected the Brown Act argument that claimed that an outside attorney should not have been present during termination hearings. -DB Metropolitan [...]