Opinion ID: 369725
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Alleged First Amendment Violation.

Text: 36 Initially, we reject Judge Siebenmann's attack on the district court findings that Atcherson resigned under duress and that the April 11 letter to Bray motivated Judge Siebenmann's pressure upon Atcherson to resign. Those factual findings are not clearly erroneous. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a). 37 Judge Siebenmann contends, nonetheless, that Atcherson's letter does not fall within the category of speech protected by the first amendment, because the letter was sent to Bray in violation of a probation office policy requiring that all interagency correspondence be reviewed by Wickes, and because it contained allegations that might interfere with the maintenance of  discipline by immediate superiors or harmony among coworkers. Pickering v. Board of Education, 391 U.S. 563, 570, 88 S.Ct. 1731, 1735, 20 L.Ed.2d 811 (1968). See Sprague v. Fitzpatrick, 546 F.2d 560 (3d Cir. 1976), Cert. denied, 431 U.S. 937, 97 S.Ct. 2649, 53 L.Ed.2d 255 (1977); Abbott v. Thetford, 534 F.2d 1101 (5th Cir. 1976) (En banc ), Cert. denied, 430 U.S. 954, 97 S.Ct. 1598, 51 L.Ed.2d 804 (1977); Roseman v. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 520 F.2d 1364 (3d Cir. 1975), Cert. denied, 424 U.S. 921, 96 S.Ct. 1128, 47 L.Ed.2d 329 (1976). Upon a careful examination of the record, we conclude that the district court properly rejected that contention of the appellant. 38 Under the guidelines enunciated in Pickering v. Board of Education, supra, first amendment protection of a public employee's speech depends upon a balancing of the employee's interest as a citizen in commenting on the matter at issue against the interests of the employing governmental entity in the efficient operation of public services. See Givhan v. Western Line Consolidated School District, 439 U.S. 410, 99 S.Ct. 693, 58 L.Ed.2d 619 (1979). 39 Here, the accusations in Atcherson's letter, to the extent Atcherson's coworkers became aware of them, would naturally tend to disrupt working relationships among the probation office staff. When he suggested Atcherson's resignation, Judge Siebenmann properly expressed concern about such disruption. 5 In light of the circumstances disclosed at trial, however, the district court found that Atcherson's allegations would not have greatly increased the disharmony already present in the probation office and that, because of the officers' independence in their work, the probation office could operate satisfactorily despite such disharmony. Those findings are not clearly erroneous. 6 40 More importantly, Atcherson's allegations of misappropriation of public funds by her coworkers represent a matter of compelling public concern. 7 Apart from the other members of the probation office staff, Atcherson may have been the only person aware of the evidence that her coemployees padded their mileage claims. In these circumstances, a public employee's right to speak out on such an important matter must be protected from the threat of retaliatory discharge. Cf. Pickering v. Board of Education, supra, 391 U.S. at 571-72, 88 S.Ct. 1731 (teachers, likely to be best-informed citizens on questions of use of school funds, must be able to speak out freely on such questions without fear of retaliation). As the district court stated, the creation of disharmony cannot be so feared as to silence the critic who would inform the public of this misbehavior by public officials. Atcherson v. Siebenmann, supra, 458 F.Supp. at 539. 41 In sum, we hold that the trial court did not err in ruling that the termination of Atcherson's employment violated her rights under the first and fourteenth amendments. 42