holding that a reprimand letter sent in response to a teacher’s union representation of a fellow employee’s grievance infringed on the teacher’s right of free association
How later courts described this case
- holding that a reprimand letter sent in response to a teacher’s union representation of a fellow employee’s grievance infringed on the teacher’s right of free association
- holding that a teacher’s “zealous advocacy as a designated union spokesperson of a fellow teacher’s complaint” was a matter of public concern
- § 1983 injunction required to expunge letter of reprimand placed in personnel file of zealous union spokesman which would otherwise have chilling effect on exercise of free speech
- disciplinary actions had chilling effect on teacher’s exercise of free speech
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
MERRITT, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I agree with the District Judge that the principal’s letter to the teacher was nothing *1161 more than an expression of opinion that the teacher’s conduct toward the principal was rude and therefore “unprofessional.” In my view the principal has as much right as the teacher under the First Amendment to object to the other’s conduct. The record does not indicate that the teacher suffered any adverse consequences whatever from the principal’s letter or its retention in the teacher’s file. The principal did not exclude the teacher’s speech from the school. He did not silence the teacher. He simply objected to it and added his own critical voice to the exchange. See Tribe, American Constitutional Law §§ 12-4, 12-21 (1978).