Employment – public employment — free speech

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U.S. Supreme Court

Civil

Employment – public employment — free speech

A public employee’s sworn testimony outside the scope of his ordinary job duties is entitled to First Amendment protection.

Sworn testimony in judicial proceedings is a quintessential example of citizen speech for the simple reason that anyone who testifies in court bears an obligation, to the court and society at large, to tell the truth. That obligation is distinct and independent from any separate obligations a testifying public employee might have to his employer. The Eleventh Circuit read Garcetti far too broadly in holding that Lane did not speak as a citizen when he testified simply because he learned of the subject matter of that testimony in the course of his employment. Garcetti said nothing about speech that relates to public employment or concerns information learned in the course of that employment. The critical question under Garcetti is whether the speech at issue is itself ordinarily within the scope of an employee’s duties, not whether it merely concerns those duties. Indeed, speech by public employees on subject matter related to their employment holds special value precisely because those employees gain knowledge of matters of public concern through their employment.

523 Fed. Appx. 709, affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.

13-483 Lane v. Franks

Sotomayor, J. Thomas, J., concurring.