Opinion ID: 729699
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Back-Pay

Text: 27 Phillips contends that the plaintiff's damages should be reduced to cover only her probationary employment period, rather than the longer period through the date of the verdict. We disagree. Although a probationary employee may usually be discharged with or without cause, she may not be discharged in violation of her First Amendment rights, and will be entitled to redress for such a violation. Rankin v. McPherson, 483 U.S. 378, 107 S.Ct. 2891, 97 L.Ed.2d 315 (1987). 28 After finding a violation of Sagendorf-Teal's First Amendment rights, the jury was entitled to make its own reasonable determination of the measure of damages, and could award damages for a period longer or shorter than the remaining period of probation. The fact that the plaintiff could have been terminated solely because her probationary period ended does not mean that such a discharge would have occurred in the absence of protected speech, and the jury was not required to find otherwise.