Opinion ID: 702583
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Does the speech touch upon a matter of public concern?

Text: 18 The Appellants contend that Kincade's speech does not touch upon a matter of public concern because Kincade made this speech as an employee, within the role and scope of the employer-employee relationship, and not as a concerned citizen. They note that Kincade spoke on August 5, 1991, pursuant to a work assignment given to him by the BOA and that he spoke in his capacity as City Engineer. They also observe that Kincade never communicated his purported concerns about the dam and the agreements with local developers concerning the dam to the public; rather the speech was made only to the BOA and several other City officials during an executive session of the BOA. 19 An employee's speech touches upon a matter of public concern when it is a matter of political, social, or other concern to the community at large. Connick, 461 U.S. at 146, 103 S.Ct. at 1689. Connick emphasized that speech does not touch upon a matter of public concern when the employee speaks upon matters only of personal interest. Id. at 147, 103 S.Ct. at 1690. In determining whether speech touches upon a matter of public concern, we examine the content, form, and context of the speech, given the record as a whole. Id. at 147-48, 103 S.Ct. at 1690-91. 20 The focus is on the role that the employee has assumed in advancing the particular expressions: that of a concerned public citizen, informing the public that the state institution is not properly discharging its duties, or engaged in some way in misfeasance, malfeasance or nonfeasance; or merely as an employee, concerned only with internal policies or practices which are of relevance only to the employees of that institution. 21 Cox v. Dardanelle Pub. Sch. Dist., 790 F.2d 668, 672 (8th Cir.1986) (footnote and citations omitted). 22 We conclude that Kincade's August 5, 1991, speech touched upon matters of public concern. He stated that the City had paid local developers a substantial amount of money for work on the dam that had not been done. We generally have held that speech about the use of public funds touches upon a matter of public concern. Hamer v. Brown, 831 F.2d 1398, 1402 (8th Cir.1987) (holding speech touched upon a matter of public concern because it related to the expense of public funds). See also Bausworth v. Hazelwood Sch. Dist., 986 F.2d 1197, 1199 (8th Cir.1993) (M. Arnold, J., concurring) (speech that either directly, or by reasonable inference, criticizes public officials' use of the public's funds lies at the core of the speaker's First Amendment rights). Kincade's comments were of interest to the community and did not involve issues that were relevant only to the employees of the City. Kincade's comments clearly were not limited to matters of personal interest to him only. We find Hamer to be analogous to the fact of this case because, like Kincade, Hamer's speech concerned the expenditure of public funds and also was made in response to an inquiry by a governmental committee. Hamer, 831 F.2d at 1402. 23 More significantly, under the factual assumptions we have made, Kincade stated that homes and residents downstream from the dam could become imperiled if the dam's structural integrity was compromised. These statements concerned potential danger to the community's citizens, which surely is a matter of concern to the public and not of some personal interest solely to the speaker. Thus, we believe that Kincade's speech concerned matters which can be fairly considered as relating to matter[s] of ... concern to the community. Connick, 461 U.S. at 146, 103 S.Ct. at 1690. 24 The Appellants argue that under Bausworth, when a public employee's speech is made in his capacity as a public employee, such speech cannot touch upon a matter of public concern. 986 F.2d at 1198. The Bausworth plaintiff's speech involved relaying a complaint from a parent to a school official about the district's decision to charge transportation costs for student field trips, and then informing the parent of the school official's response. Id. We stated that in determining whether speech touches upon a matter of public concern, we focus on the employee's role in conveying the speech rather than the public's interest in the speech's topic. Id. 25 The Appellants seize upon this language and argue that when a public employee speaks in his role as an employee, that speech cannot touch upon a matter of public concern. However, our recent opinion in Mumford v. Godfried, 52 F.3d 756 (8th Cir.1995), rejects the type of broad interpretation of Bausworth that the Appellants would have us adopt. In Mumford, we stated that Bausworth must be considered in light of the particular facts of that case, namely that the [Bausworth ] plaintiff's role as messenger was no more protected by the First Amendment than if she had physically delivered the information in writing back and forth between the concerned parents and the school officials. Mumford, 52 F.3d at 761. When viewed in that context, it became clear why we stated in Bausworth that in determining whether speech touches upon a matter of public concern,  'we focus on the employee's role in conveying the speech rather than the public's interest in the speech's topic.'  Id. (quoting Bausworth, 986 F.2d at 1198). In Mumford, we went on to hold that the plaintiff's speech touched upon a matter of public concern because the plaintiff (like Kincade here) was not merely conveying information on behalf of other parties, he was conveying his own personal opinion on an issue. Id. Thus here, as in Mumford, we find Bausworth to be readily distinguishable. 26 For similar reasons, we find the assumed facts of this case distinguishable from other cases that the Appellants rely upon for the proposition that a public employee's speech is not protected when the individual is speaking in his or her role as a public employee. See Thomson v. Scheid, 977 F.2d 1017, 1021 (6th Cir.1992), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 2341, 124 L.Ed.2d 251 (1993) (plaintiff's conversations with supervisors about filing complaint against County Commissioner involved only matters of internal department policy and did not touch upon public concern; likewise, statements to Agent of the Office of the Inspector General were not protected speech because superiors approved of the contacts and therefore plaintiff was only acting in the course of his employment); Marquez v. Turnock, 765 F.Supp. 1376, 1385 (C.D.Ill.1991) (disgruntled public employee's speech related to primarily internal office issues where speech was made because of employee's dissatisfaction with his employment, and therefore speech was made as employee rather than citizen), aff'd, 967 F.2d 1175 (7th Cir.1992). 27 We also reject the Appellants' contention that the speech did not touch upon a matter of public concern because it occurred in a closed executive session of the BOA and was not conveyed to the public. A public employee's First Amendment protection is not lost when the speech is made in private to the employer rather than to the public. Givhan v. Western Line Consol. Sch. Dist., 439 U.S. 410, 414-16, 99 S.Ct. 693, 695-97, 58 L.Ed.2d 619 (1979); see also Mumford, 52 F.3d at 761-62 (citing Givhan, speech directed only to faculty members touched upon matter of public concern, even though not conveyed to public audience). 28 The district court correctly concluded that Kincade's August 5, 1991, speech touched upon a matter of public concern.