Court Opinion

ID: 9493112
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 14:58:35.784011+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:55:39.676583
License: Public Domain

WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. While I agree with the majority’s resolution of Cynthia Taylor’s claim relating to her reinstatement after her medical leave, I disagree with the majority’s resolution of the plaintiffs’ other claims. Specifically, I am not persuaded that the magistrate judge correctly ruled that the plaintiffs’ protests within the City of Gary’s chain of command did not deal with matters of public concern.
As I read the record, the plaintiffs’ protests were an effort to challenge racism in the City’s Law Department. In a variety of forums and on several occasions they raised their concerns about racism on the part of both Margaret Felton and Hamilton Carmouche. Most significantly, they went directly to both the City’s Mayor and Deputy Mayor in their effort to speak out. And, there is no indication in the record that their protests were restricted to their individual concerns; rather, it appears that they were speaking out on behalf of the entire office. In light of these facts, I cannot conclude that the plaintiffs’ protests regarding racism in the City’s Law Department were simple workplace grievances that do not address matters of public concern. See generally Marshall v. Allen, 984 F.2d 787, 795-96 (7th Cir.1993); Tindal v. Montgomery County Comm’n, 32 F.3d 1535, 1539-40 (11th Cir.1994). Assuming it is not related entirely to a private dispute between the plaintiff and defendant, racism in a public agency is inherently a matter of public concern. See Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138, 148 n. 8, 103 S.Ct. 1684, 75 L.Ed.2d 708 (1983) (noting that racial discrimination is a matter inherently of public concern).
Moreover, that the plaintiffs’ protests were communicated within the City’s chain of command does not strike me as a particularly strong reason to deem their protests matters of private concern. The plaintiffs’ should not be penalized for taking advantage of internal procedures for raising their concerns, instead of running to the press the first chance they had. See Givhan v. Western Line Consol. Sch. Dist., 439 U.S. 410, 413-14, 99 S.Ct. 693, 58 L.Ed.2d 619 (1979) (expressing one’s views privately rather than publicly does not forfeit the first amendment protections afforded a government employee); Hulbert v. Wilhelm, 120 F.3d 648, 654 (7th Cir. 1997) (noting that the plaintiff-employee was, if anything, to be commended for attempting to go through established internal channels).
As for the majority’s suggestion that the plaintiffs’ protests about racism in the Law Department were defamatory and therefore are not entitled to constitutional protection, I think the majority collapses two distinct areas of first amendment law. One area regards the limitations placed on a government when it acts in its sovereign capacity to penalize or authorize penalties *795for defamation. The other addresses the limitations placed on a government when it acts in its capacity as an employer to discipline one of its employees based on that employee’s speech. In light of the distinct situations that must be addressed, quite different standards apply in these two areas. Whether defamation may be punished depends on whether the subject of the defamatory statement is a public official, public figure, or private figure, whether the defamatory statement involves a matter of public concern, and whether the defamatory statement is a proposition of fact. See generally Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co., 497 U.S. 1, 110 S.Ct. 2695, 111 L.Ed.2d 1 (1990); Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc., 472 U.S. 749, 105 S.Ct. 2939, 86 L.Ed.2d 593 (1985) (plurality opinion). Moreover, truth is an absolute defense. Whether a government employee may be disciplined for his or her speech depends on whether the speech addresses a matter of public concern and whether the government’s interest in efficiency outweighs the employee’s interest in speaking out. See generally Connick v. Myers, supra; Pickering v. Board of Education, 391 U.S. 563, 88 S.Ct. 1731, 20 L.Ed.2d 811 (1968). Truth is not a defense. Collapsing these distinct standards confuses the issues presented by this case. Contrast Waters v. Churchill, 511 U.S. 661, 671-75, 114 S.Ct. 1878, 128 L.Ed.2d 686 (1994) (plurality opinion) (making a point of distinguishing the sorts of the first amendment restrictions placed on a government in its sovereign capacity and those placed on a government in its capacity as an employer). In fact, as this case is plainly governed by the law regarding employee speech, there is no need to discuss the law of defamation at all.