Press & News

Brian Ashe Quoted in Business Insurance
06/12/2006

The article ("Supreme Court limits free speech protections for public employees") in the June 12 issue of Business Insurance reports: "A U.S. Supreme Court ruling that public employees who make statements as part of their official duties are not protected by the First Amendment should make it easier for public sector employees to discipline employees, experts say. And while the 5-4 ruling in Garcetti vs. Ceballos has no bearing on private employers or on whistleblower statutes, it does give some indication on how the Supreme Court may rule on future cases involving employee dismissals, they say. The court ruled May 30 in a case brought by Richard Ceballos, a deputy district attorney in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, who concluded that an affidavit police used to obtain a search warrant made serious misrepresentations. He relayed his finding to his supervisors and followed up with a memorandum. Supervisors and, later, a district court rejected his assertions and allowed the search warrant to stand. Mr. Ceballos later was transferred to another post. He claimed the action was retaliatory and violated his First Amendment right of free speech and 14th Amendment right to due process. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that actions taken against Mr. Ceballos violated his First Amendment rights, but the U.S. Supreme Court disagreed. ``We hold that when public employees make statements pursuant to their official duties, the employees are not speaking as citizens for First Amendment purposes, and the Constitution does not insulate their communications from employer discipline,'' Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote in the 5-4 ruling."

"The court is saying, 'Look, we're not going to be the super police department that is going to regulate all the nuances of the employment relationship,'" said Brian T. Ashe, an attorney with Seyfarth Shaw LLP in San Francisco.