Opinion ID: 744115
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Pickering Balancing Argument

Text: 40 Finally, Chancellor Ianni seizes upon the two incidents involving threats to Ms. Featherman and Ms. Trolander in an attempt to interject First Amendment precedent not applicable to this dispute. We reject this endeavor. 41 Ianni contends that the plaintiffs' rights to express this particular speech must additionally be balanced against UMD's right to suppress it in the name of workplace efficiency and harmony. He urges this court to invoke a line of employee discipline and termination cases to summarily dispose of any violation of constitutional rights. See, e.g., Pickering, 391 U.S. 563, 88 S.Ct. 1731 (teacher discharged for writing letter to newspaper criticizing school board and school superintendent); Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138, 103 S.Ct. 1684, 75 L.Ed.2d 708 (1983) (assistant district attorney discharged for distributing questionnaire concerning office morale, policy and confidence in supervisors). We decline to do so here. 42 The Supreme Court, in Pickering, held that in an employee discipline case, a court must determine whether the employee's speech was on matter of public concern, and if so, whether the employee's interest in that speech is outweighed by the governmental employer's interest in promoting the efficiency and effectiveness of the services it performs. Pickering, 391 U.S. at 568, 88 S.Ct. at 1734-35. In conjunction with his argument in favor of this balancing requirement, Ianni also advances the theory that government employers must always be granted qualified immunity under such circumstances. We not only find that the Pickering balancing test is inapposite under these facts, but we also disagree with Ianni's analysis of qualified immunity law. 43 The Pickering standard applies to determinations of whether a public employer has properly discharged or disciplined an employee for engaging in speech. Waters v. Churchill, 511 U.S. 661, 668, 114 S.Ct. 1878, 1884, 128 L.Ed.2d 686 (1994); Rankin v. McPherson, 483 U.S. 378, 384, 107 S.Ct. 2891, 2896-97, 97 L.Ed.2d 315 (1987); Kincade v. City of Blue Springs, 64 F.3d 389, 395 (8th Cir.1995), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 1565, 134 L.Ed.2d 665 (1996). In this case, it is argued that there is no adverse employment action (unless the censorship itself serves that purpose), against which the plaintiffs' free speech rights might be balanced. 18 Indeed, the district court found: 44 The gravamen of the complaint is not whether the photographs were the basis for adverse employment action; rather, the gravamen of the complaint is whether the ideas conveyed in the photographs fall within any of the exceptions to the general rule that under our Constitution, the public expression of ideas may not be prohibited merely because the ideas are themselves offensive to some of the hearers. 45 Burnham, 899 F.Supp. at 400 (quoting Street v. New York, 394 U.S. 576, 592, 89 S.Ct. 1354, 1366, 22 L.Ed.2d 572 (1969)). 46 We need not decide whether an adverse employment action can be fashioned from the evidence, however, because Ianni has factually failed to put the Pickering balancing test in play. See, e.g., Kincade, 64 F.3d at 398. As this court recently observed, it is critical to determine whether the defendants [employers] have put the Pickering balancing test at issue by producing evidence that the speech activity had an adverse effect on the efficiency of the ... employer's operations. Grantham v. Trickey, 21 F.3d 289, 294 (8th Cir.1994). As the district court found, [t]his is not an employment case where there is a threatened disruption to the efficient delivery of services. Burnham, 899 F.Supp. at 400; see also Pickering, 391 U.S. at 570, 88 S.Ct. at 1736 (noting that no evidence to support [professional damage to the school board and superintendent] was introduced at the hearing and rejecting the workplace disruption argument of the board.) 47 As in our Kincade decision, we find that Ianni has failed to carry his burden on this prong of the Pickering rationale. Ianni has made no factual showing that the suppressed conduct substantially interfered with the efficiency of the workplace or UMD's educational mission. Kincade, 64 F.3d at 398. In our system, undifferentiated fear or apprehension of disturbance is not enough to overcome the right to freedom of expression. Tinker, 393 U.S. at 508, 89 S.Ct. at 737. It is simply unreasonable, as a matter of law, to assert that a photograph of a cardboard laurel-wreath bedecked faculty member holding a Roman short sword, as part of an eleven-person faculty display, somehow exacerbated an unestablished ambiance of fear on the UMD campus. 48 And, even if the Pickering balancing test were somehow applicable, which it is not, Ianni's defense would fail. As stated earlier, the Pickering balancing test requires a court to determine whether the employee's speech involves a matter of public concern and, if so, how the employee's rights in the speech balance against the occurrence of workplace disruption. Both of these questions are issues of law for the court to decide. Kincade, 64 F.3d at 395. 49 To determine whether the speech at issue here involves a matter of public concern, we examine the content, form and context of the speech, given the record as a whole. Connick, 461 U.S. at 147-48, 103 S.Ct. at 1690. To be considered speech on a matter of public concern, the discourse must relate to a matter of political, social, or other concern to the community. Id. at 146, 103 S.Ct. at 1690; see also Kincade, 64 F.3d at 396. That definition includes many types of speech, excluding mainly speech relating merely to internal office grievances. Connick, 461 U.S. at 148-49, 103 S.Ct. at 1690-91; see also Cox v. Dardanelle Pub. Sch. Dist., 790 F.2d 668, 672 (8th Cir.1986). 50 The history exhibit, displayed for public viewing, was intended, at least, to inform the University and surrounding community of the views and specialties of the history department and its faculty. As such, the speech involved more than a mere internal office grievance. See, e.g., Cox, 790 F.2d at 673 (stating educational theories and practices employed by school administrators is clearly a question of public concern ... [h]ow we teach the young, what we teach them, and the environment in which we teach them are of the most central concern to every community in the nation). See also Lewis v. Harrison Sch. Dist. No. 1, 805 F.2d 310, 314 (8th Cir.1986) (holding speech involving proposed transfer of teacher was on matter of public concern due to large turnout at meeting regarding transfer and teacher interest in the subject); Roberts v. Van Buren Pub. Schs., 773 F.2d 949, 955 (8th Cir.1985) (holding speech involving content of rules governing fifth grade field trip was on matter of public concern due to parental dissatisfaction with and interest in the subject). 51 Admittedly, the speech at issue here is not of the utmost public concern when compared with an assassination attempt against the President, as in Rankin. 483 U.S. at 381, 107 S.Ct. at 2895. However, when balancing an employee's interest against an employer's interest, the constitutional standard takes proportionality into account. [T]he closer the employee's speech reflects on matters of public concern, the greater must be the employer's showing that the speech is likely to be disruptive before it may be punished. Jeffries v. Harleston, 52 F.3d 9, 13 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 173, 133 L.Ed.2d 114 (1995). The converse is also true. When weighed against the meager evidence of workplace disruption, the plaintiffs' speech clearly addresses matters of public concern within the meaning of the Pickering test. See supra n. 3. 52 Our next consideration is whether UMD's interest in suppressing the speech, to purportedly control workplace disruption, outweighs the plaintiffs' First Amendment rights in the display. See, e.g., Barnard v. Jackson County, Missouri, 43 F.3d 1218, 1224 (8th Cir.) (stating pertinent considerations for Pickering balancing test are whether the employee's speech has a detrimental impact on working relationships where personal loyalty or confidence is necessary, and whether the speech impedes the efficient operation of the governmental entity's function), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 53, 133 L.Ed.2d 17 (1995). The government employer must make a substantial showing that the speech is, in fact, disruptive before the speech may be punished. Waters, 511 U.S. at 673, 114 S.Ct. at 1886-87. We recognize that the government, as an employer, has broader powers in suppressing free speech than the government as a sovereign. Indeed, we have given some deference to an employer's predictions of workplace disruption. Id. However, we have never granted any deference to a government supervisor's bald assertions of harm based on conclusory hearsay and rank speculation. As stated above, the procedural posture of this case requires us to view the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, i.e., the plaintiffs. In so doing, we note that both Burnham and Marchese, by affidavit, expressly dispute that a climate of fear and violence existed on the campus, stating that campus life continued as normal, no classes were suspended or schedules altered and not a single act of violence occurred on UMD premises. 53 Even if we were to attempt to balance the plaintiffs' free speech rights against the purported disruption of the pedagogical tasks of UMD, it is clear that the impact of the speech on UMD's mission is totally unproven and unaddressed except in the most conclusory fashion. There is simply no evidence that establishes a nexus between the two photographs and an exacerbated climate of fear on the campus or, more importantly, that establishes a relationship between the photographs and a decrease in the efficiency and effectiveness of UMD's educational mission. 54 In sum, then, upholding Ianni's approach to the First Amendment would permit the suppression of too much speech on arbitrary and capricious grounds. Such a holding would presumably permit the suppression of Ms. Featherman's advocacy of gender and cultural diversity at UMD if Ianni felt that such speech contributed to an inefficient and negative working and learning environment on the campus because of unlawful or vehement opposition to Featherman's views. 19 Vigilance is necessary to ensure that public employers do not use authority over employees to silence discourse, not because it hampers public functions but simply because superiors disagree with the content of employees' speech. Rankin, 483 U.S. at 384, 107 S.Ct. at 2897. 55 Finally, we hold that Ianni's failure to establish workplace disruption or, at least, to make a connection between the plaintiffs' speech and the workplace atmosphere, is fatal to his claim of qualified immunity under a Pickering analysis. Kincade is both directly on point and directly contradictory to Ianni's position. Kincade was discharged by Blue Springs for exercising his free speech rights. Because Kincade's speech, as here, touched on a matter of public concern, the Pickering balancing test was employed to review the district court's denial of a motion for summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds. After noting that the only evidence of workplace disruption was conclusory statements to that effect by the mayor and other city officials, Judge Hansen stated: 56 the Appellants [city officials] have merely asserted that Kincade's speech adversely affected the efficiency of the City's operations and substantially disrupted the work environment without presenting any specific evidence to support this assertion. They therefore have not put the Pickering balancing test at issue, and accordingly, we reject their claim that they are entitled to qualified immunity because free speech questions for public employees, as a matter of law, cannot be clearly established.Kincade, 64 F.3d at 398-99. This is precisely the factual and legal situation we have in this case.