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Entries Tagged as 'Public employee'

City manager ‘caught on tape,’ lawsuit claims

August 4th, 2009 · No Comments · First Amendment, Public employee, Western District

A Lynchburg police officer says he got a tongue lashing from the city manager after he spoke out as a citizen at a public hearing on budget issues. Now, the officer is suing for $500,000, saying the manager’s tirade - which the officer secretly recorded - was unconstitutional retaliation for speech protected by the [...]

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Office e-mail: Stick to the company line

May 31st, 2007 · No Comments · E-mail, First Amendment, Public employee

Is using your office e-mail with its signature stamp the same as using office letterhead?
Should anyone down a chain of distribution that you can’t control assume that your e-mail speaks for your employer?
Office e-mail comes pretty close to company letterhead, according to one federal judge who considered the question in an unpublished opinion in Bowers [...]

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Sexual harassment matter of ‘public concern’

April 27th, 2007 · No Comments · First Amendment, Public employee, sexual harassment

Here’s one for the public-sector employment lawyers.
Those lawyers know that public employees have First Amendment rights and can sue employers who abridge those rights.
But the First Amendment only protects employee speech on matters of “public concern.” A lot of workplace speech can involve issues peculiar to that workplace and personal to that employee. It isn’t [...]

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