Opinion ID: 2996818
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Speech as a Matter of Public Concern

Text: Mr. Ramirez contends, as an initial matter, that no “speech” occurred. He submits that Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Blanco’s notations on the privately kept calendars do not constitute “speech.” As the district court noted, it is without question that “speech” includes writings publicly disclosed. See Gonzalez v. City of Chicago, 239 F.3d 939, 941-42 (7th Cir. 2001) (considering written reports “speech”); Campbell v. Towse, 99 F.3d 820, 826-30 (7th Cir. 1996) (considering memorandum “speech”). Whether “speech” includes writings involuntarily disclosed is a closer question. Mr. Ramirez notes that little authority exists to establish that private notes involuntarily exposed constitute “speech.” The Fifth Circuit has assumed, without deciding, that such notes constitute “speech.” See Terrell v. Univ. of Texas Sys. Police, 792 F.2d 1360, 1362 (5th Cir. 1986). In Terrell, a university police officer kept private notes criticizing his supervisor. Id. at 1361. Photocopies of these notes were anonymously given to the supervisor, and the officer was soon fired. Id. The court declined to decide whether “an employee’s personal notebook or diary can be considered first amendment ‘speech’ ” when “the contents come to light completely without the employee’s knowledge or consent,” but it did evaluate the officer’s claim. Id. at 1362. At least two district courts also have entertained First Amendment No. 02-4118 11 retaliation claims on the basis of involuntarily disclosed writings. In Verri v. Nanna, 972 F. Supp. 773 (S.D.N.Y. 1997), a police officer’s diary was involuntarily transferred to the chief of police, who retained the diary for some time. Id. at 782. The officer then brought suit for retaliation on First Amendment grounds, among other claims, asserting that the chief placed deficiency notes in his file based on the content of the diary. Id. at 783. In addressing the diary entries, the court cited Terrell on the matter of “speech” and continued in the analysis to consider whether the content warranted constitutional protection. Id. at 785. Similarly, in Connor v. Clinton County Prison, 963 F. Supp. 442 (M.D. Pa. 1997), the district court held that “speech” did occur after a supervisor found and read an employee’s private log because the contents were then communicated, even though involuntarily. Id. at 446. We believe that Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Blanco’s private notations in their calendars constituted “speech.” The record indicates that the content of Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Blanco’s notations was known to the office community. Other employees complained to the supervisors about it. Mr. Ramirez confiscated the calendars before meeting with Ms. Sullivan or Ms. Blanco, which indicates that he already was aware of their content. Furthermore, Mr. Ramirez did in fact review the calendars. Given the specific facts of this case, we conclude that the content of Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Blanco’s private notes was communicated and that “speech” oc- 7 curred. 7 The 1999 letter which led to the police investigation is clearly “speech” for purposes of First Amendment analysis. Neither Ms. Sullivan nor Ms. Blanco claim responsibility for that letter, however; thus it cannot form the basis of their claim. 12 No. 02-4118 “Whether a government employee’s speech addresses a matter of public concern depends upon ‘the content, form, and context of [the speech] as revealed by the whole record.’” Gustafson, 290 F.3d at 906-07 (quoting Connick, 461 U.S. at 147-48). Content is the most important factor. See id. at 907. The “public concern” element must relate to a community concern and is not satisfied by “merely a personal grievance of interest only to the employee.” Id. Therefore, to determine whether Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Blanco’s speech addressed a matter of public concern, we must apply the content, form and context criteria, as set forth in Connick, mindful that a personal grievance of interest only to the employee does not qualify as a matter of public concern. The content of Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Blanco’s speech consisted of notations related to the comings and goings of their co-workers. The notes contained initials or names of certain employees, corresponding departure or arrival times and some notes regarding their whereabouts or reasons for absence. Complaints about personnel matters generally do not address a matter of public concern. See Wallscetti v. Fox, 258 F.3d 662, 667 (7th Cir. 2001); see also Connick, 461 U.S. at 148 (determining that speech regarding confidence in supervisors, office morale and the need for a grievance committee were outgrowths of a personnel dispute and did not address a matter of public concern). However, complaints containing documentation of time abuse have been held to address a matter of a public concern. See Marshall v. Porter County Plan Comm’n, 32 F.3d 1215, 1219-20 (7th Cir. 1994) (holding that the district court properly found as a matter of law that the plaintiff was speaking on matters of public concern when she documented a co-worker’s abuse of county time, abuse of county funds and failures to conduct required building inspections and communicated those documented concerns to a supervising board); Breuer v. Hart, 909 F.2d 1035, 1038 No. 02-4118 13 (7th Cir. 1990) (holding that allegations of favoritism, stolen property and receipt of pay for work not performed, communicated to state prosecutorial authorities, constituted matters of public concern); Ohse v. Hughes, 816 F.2d 1144, 1150-51 (7th Cir. 1987) (holding that allegations of alcohol consumption during business hours, the falsifying of mileage charges, the inappropriate taking of sick and vacation days, the misappropriation of public funds and the act of sleeping on the job, communicated to judges, county board members and the state’s attorney’s office constituted matters of public concern), vacated and remanded, 485 U.S. 902, reinstated in relevant part, 863 F.2d 22 (7th Cir. 1988). Chronic time abuse by public employees implicates the misuse of taxpayer funds. The content factor therefore weighs in favor of a determination that the speech addressed a matter of public concern. As to form, the speech consisted of notes made in stateprovided calendars privately kept. Those notes were not published voluntarily by Ms. Sullivan or Ms. Blanco and only were read by others after Mr. Ramirez confiscated the calendars. Those cases involving involuntarily communicated speech have held such a factor to weigh against a determination that the speech involved a matter of public concern. See Terrell, 792 F.2d at 1362-63 (“[The plaintiff] made no effort to communicate the contents of the notebook to the public, and the evidence does not suggest that he would have had any occasion to do so.”); Verri, 972 F. Supp. at 786 (“By writing in his diary, [the plaintiff] did not intend to speak on a matter of public concern; he desired and expected no audience.”); Connor, 963 F. Supp. at 450 (“The form is a log which was not voluntarily disclosed, so that no communication can be said to have been made until its discovery.”). Yet, as we have noted earlier, the plaintiffs made known the existence of these “private” notes. Their existence was, simply put, a prop for additional discourse. 14 No. 02-4118 The third consideration under Connick is the context in which the speech arose. Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Blanco testified that they kept the notes to protect themselves. Largely on this basis, Mr. Ramirez argues that the notes merely concerned a personnel matter and that they are not entitled to constitutional protection as a matter of public concern. The motive of Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Blanco is a relevant, but not dispositive, factor in considering whether their speech addresses a matter of public concern. See Marshall, 32 F.3d at 1219; see also Gustafson, 290 F.3d at 908 (“[W]hile speech that is only motivated by private concerns may not be protected, ‘[a] personal aspect contained within the motive of the speaker does not necessarily remove the speech from the scope of public concern.’ ” (quoting Greer v. Amesqua, 212 F.3d 358, 371 (7th Cir. 2000) (quoting Marshall, 32 F.3d at 1219))). However, Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Blanco testified to an additional reason for keeping track of co-workers’ time: the possibility of a future investigation into time abuse. In considering context, “it is necessary to look at the point of the speech in question: was it the employee’s point to bring wrongdoing to light?” Kokkinis, 185 F.3d at 844 (internal quotations and citations omitted). Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Blanco made their notations in the aftermath of an investigation by the Illinois State Police of possible time abuse in the Bureau. Both Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Blanco testified that they kept the notations as evidence for any future investigations of time abuse, and Ms. Blanco testified that the police told her information on time abuse was only valuable if supported by documentation. Abuse of time by government workers constitutes wrongdoing. See Marshall, 32 F.3d at 1219-20 (noting that co-worker’s partisan activities at work, excessive mileage reimbursement requests and failures to perform building inspections “were the type that result in the misuse of public funds and trust”). Given these circumNo. 02-4118 15 stances, it may be said fairly that the point of Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Blanco’s speech was, in significant part, to bring wrongdoing to light. Considering, as a whole, the content, form and context of Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Blanco’s speech, there is sufficient reason to conclude that the speech addresses a matter of public concern.