Opinion ID: 406149
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Appellant's Personal First Amendment Rights

Text: 28 Appellant contends that he had a personal right to encourage publication of controversial articles in the high school newspaper and that his discharge for failure to submit articles on sensitive topics to school officials was improper. 7 The district court disagreed and found that the defendants did not suppress Nicholson's freedom of expression. We agree and affirm the district court's conclusion. 29 The question whether a school teacher's speech is constitutionally protected expression requires balancing the interests of the teacher as a citizen, in commenting upon matters of public concern and the interest of the State, as an employer, in promoting the efficiency of the public services it performs through its employees. Pickering v. Board of Educ., 391 U.S. 563, 568, 88 S.Ct. 1731, 1734, 20 L.Ed.2d 811 (1968). 30 In Pickering, the Supreme Court identified several factors to consider in striking a balance between the competing interests. Pickering was a teacher who was dismissed for writing and publishing in a newspaper a letter criticizing certain actions taken by the local board of education. In holding that Pickering could not be dismissed because of the statements he made, the Court observed that 31 (t)he statements are in no way directed towards any person with whom appellant would normally be in contact in the course of his daily work as a teacher. Thus no question of maintaining either discipline by immediate superiors or harmony among coworkers is presented here. Appellant's employment relationships with the Board and, to a somewhat lesser extent, with the superintendent are not the kind of close working relationships for which it can persuasively be claimed that personal loyalty and confidence are necessary to their proper functioning. 32 Id. at 569-70, 88 S.Ct. at 1735. 33 The Court also noted that a teacher's expression might not be entitled to protection if it impeded the teacher's proper performance of his daily duties in the classroom or interfered with the regular operation of the school generally. Id. at 572-73, 88 S.Ct. at 1736-1737. 34 Application of the Pickering factors to the present case amply supports the district court's finding that Nicholson's own first amendment rights were not infringed. 8 Unlike the activity at issue in the Pickering case, the conduct for which appellant seeks protection did involve questions of supervisorial discipline, loyalty and harmony among coworkers. First, appellant concedes that his working relationship with the school principal deteriorated when he refused to comply with instructions regarding the school newspaper. 9 The effectiveness of this close working relationship was further undermined when appellant openly defied the wishes of Dr. Ahee when he allowed his students to attend a taped television interview. Finally, the school board properly concluded that its interests were threatened when appellant conducted and published the student newspaper's survey in direct violation of established administrative policy. See Mt. Healthy City School Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 284, 97 S.Ct. 568, 574, 50 L.Ed.2d 471 (1977). 35 Furthermore, several of the articles which appellant failed to submit to the principal concerned other members on the school's faculty who were extremely anxious to ensure accurate and fair reporting due to the sensitive nature of the subject matter being discussed. When these articles were published, several containing inaccuracies and misimpressions, Nicholson's coworkers became angry and dissatisfied with the school newspaper and its advisor. As such, the potential for further personality conflicts within the faculty was sure to have a detrimental effect on intra-school harmony. See Lefcourt v. Legal Aid Society, 312 F.Supp. 1105, 1112-13 (S.D.N.Y.1970), aff'd, 445 F.2d 1150 (2d Cir. 1971). 36 Therefore, the trial court properly concluded that the school board did not violate appellant's rights of free expression under the circumstances of this case.