Ruling on Workplace Speech Affects Superintendent’s Case

A recent federal appeals court decision shows the impact of a U.S. Supreme Court decision from last year on First Amendment protections for government employees who face adverse job actions based on their speech in the workplace.

Under high court precedents, a public employee is protected when he or she speaks as a citizen on a matter of public concern, if the employee’s interest in commenting outweighs the interest of the government agency as the employer.

But in the May 2006 decision in Garcetti v. Ceballos , the justices ruled 5-4 that when public employees speak “pursuant to their official duties, the employees are not speaking as citizens for First Amendment purposes, and the Constitution does not insulate their...