Opinion ID: 773536
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Defendants' Explanations

Text: 34 Defendants advance two explanations for why they were entitled to dismiss plaintiffs. First, they argue that they would have terminated plaintiffs' 4-H membership even if the plaintiffs had not engaged in protected speech because plaintiffs' other non-protected conduct interfered with the Cooperative's operation. See Mount Healthy Sch. Dist. Bd. of Ed. v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 286 (1977); Morris v. Lindau, 196 F.3d 102, 110 (2d Cir. 1999) (citation omitted); Heil v. Santoro, 147 F.3d 103, 110 (2d Cir. 1998) (affirming summary judgment for defendants on plaintiff's First Amendment retaliation claim where plaintiff police officer would have been disciplined for insubordination without regard to his protected speech). The Bakoses contend that defendants mischaracterize their actions, and they emphasize the lack of objective evidence to support defendants' claim that their conduct, in contrast to their speech, negatively affected the Cooperative's operation. 35 Second, defendants argue that even assuming that they dismissed plaintiffs, and did so because of their protected speech, they were entitled to do so because the manner in which the speech was expressed was so disruptive of the Cooperative's operation that the Cooperative's interest in continuing to provide its services without excessive interference outweighed plaintiffs' interest in free speech. Plaintiffs counter that their speech did not disrupt the Cooperative's functioning and that defendants responded to the content of their speech, not the allegedly disruptive manner in which the speech was delivered. Plaintiffs further contend that the Cooperative dismissed them, at least in part, because of their communications with county legislators-- communications that, we note, defendants do not claim were disruptive to the Cooperative in any way. 36 In Greenwich Citizens Committee, Inc. v. Counties of Warren & Washington Industrial Development Agency, 77 F.3d 26 (2d Cir. 1996), relied upon by both defendants and the district court, we emphasized that a key inquiry with respect to any claim of First Amendment retaliation is whether the allegedly retaliatory act was taken because of an impermissible reason. Id. at 32. This determination of impermissibility is generally applicable to all claims. In Greenwich, the determination of the constitutionality of the government's filing of counterclaims in response to plaintiffs' complaint turned solely on whether the government would have filed the counterclaims in the absence of an impermissible punitive or retaliatory reason. Id. at 31. Where the routine conduct of litigation could justify the response, we held the government would be entitled to take action precisely in response to the protected conduct without any need to demonstrate that its interests outweighed plaintiffs' First Amendment interests, unless the government acted in order to retaliate for the filing of the suit. 8 Id. at 33. 37 Of further guidance in the public employment context is the Pickering-Connick test, which provides an analytical framework within which to assess whether the government employer made an adverse employment decision that would not have been made absent protected conduct or retaliatory motive. See Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138, 142 (1983); Pickering v. Board of Ed., 391 U.S. 563, 568 (1968). Under this test, if the factors set forth in Morris are demonstrated in plaintiffs' favor, the defendants may offer evidence that the employee's protected conduct interfered with the employer's effective and efficient fulfillment of its responsibilities to the public, Frank v. Relin, 1 F.3d 1317, 1329 (2d Cir. 1993) (internal quotation marks omitted), to such an extent that the trial court determines that the interest of the employer in providing effective and efficient public services outweighs the employee's First Amendment right to free expression. Lewis v. Cowen, 165 F.3d 154, 162 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 823 (1999). Of course, the plaintiffs may also offer evidence to contest the defendants' evidence. 38 As a general rule, the application of the balancing test is a question of law which is properly performed by the district court. Id. at 164. In the present case, however, the facts relevant to that determination are contested. 39 This Court has not decided how the balancing test should be conducted when the facts underlying the balancing are in dispute. However, in Vasbinder v. Ambach, 926 F.2d 1333, 1340 (2d Cir. 1991), we stated that, although the plaintiffs in that case had consistently treated the [Pickering] balancing issue here as turning solely on questions of law, not on any question of fact, 40 [w]e can envision cases in which the question of the degree to which the employee's speech could reasonably have been deemed to impede the employer's efficient operation would properly be regarded as a question of fact, to be answered by the jury prior to the court's application of the Pickering balancing test. 41 The present case appears to be just the kind of case envisioned by the Vasbinder court. Among other items, the parties disagree as to the manner in which the Bakoses's speech was delivered; whether the Bakoses's speech disrupted, or had the potential to disrupt, the Cooperative's functioning; and whether even if such disruption occurred, plaintiffs were in fact not dismissed because of the disruption, but because of the content of their speech. See Waters v. Churchill, 511 U.S. 661, 681 (1994) (four justices concurring, with three justices concurring in judgment) (remanding First Amendment retaliation claim for further proceedings because even where defendants would have been justified in firing [plaintiff] for [particular statements], there remain[ed] the question whether [plaintiff] was actually fired because of those statements or because of [other nondisruptive statements]); Sheppard v. Beerman, 94 F.3d 823, 827 (2d Cir. 1996) ([E]ven if the potential disruption to the office outweighs the value of the speech, the employer may fire the employee only because of the potential disruption, and not because of the speech.). In addition, the parties dispute the extent to which the Bakoses's communications with legislators-which defendants have not claimed were disruptive-were the basis for the Bakoses's dismissal. These underlying factual disputes go to the fundamental issue of the true motivation behind plaintiffs' dismissal. See Frank, 1 F.3d at 1330 (reversing grant of summary judgment for defendants where motivation for firing clearly involved disputed questions of fact). 42 Plaintiffs and defendants have supported their respective positions with deposition testimony, affidavits and documents; each side has presented a plausible interpretation of the conflicting evidence. Under the rules of summary judgment, because essential factual issues remain unresolved, we are unable to decide as a matter of law whether defendants' interests outweigh plaintiffs' interests. Were we permitted to accept defendants' representations in the most favorable light, we would be inclined to find as a matter of law that plaintiffs' conduct was so disruptive of the Cooperative's operation that defendants' interests outweighed plaintiffs' rights to unrestrained free speech with regard to the Cooperative; however, we may not do so. As this court has repeatedly stated: 43 The function of the district court in considering the motion for summary judgment is not to resolve disputed issues of fact but only to determine whether there is a genuine issue to be tried. Assessments of credibility and choices between conflicting versions of events are matters for the jury, not for the court on summary judgment. Any weighing of the evidence is the prerogative of the finder of fact, not an exercise for the court on summary judgment. 44 Vital v. Interfaith Med. Ctr., 168 F.3d 615, 622 (2d Cir. 1999) (quoting Rule v. Brine, Inc., 85 F.3d 1002, 1011 (2d Cir. 1996) (citations omitted)). Both sides' arguments rest heavily on the proper characterization of plaintiffs' speech and defendants' motives. Making these determinations correctly depends on an evaluation of conflicting testimonial evidence, which a factfinder is in the best position to evaluate. It would be improper at this stage for the district court-or this court on appeal-to resolve the factual disputes between the parties, or to decide the proper balance between the parties' interests. Accordingly, after these underlying factual disputes are decided by a factfinder, the district court should consider the factual findings to come to its own legal conclusions about whether the employer's interest in efficiency or the employee's interest in free speech is paramount. See Belk v. City of Eldon, 228 F.3d 872, 878 (8th Cir. 2000), cert. denied, 121 S. Ct. 1734 (2001); Shands v. City of Kennett, 993 F.2d 1337, 1342-43 (8th Cir. 1993); cf. Pouillon v. City of Owosso, 206 F.3d 711, 717 (6th Cir. 2000). 45 Accordingly, the judgment is vacated, and the case remanded for further proceedings.