Case Categories: Public Employees

• Board of County Commissioners v. Umbehr (1996)

  Board of County Commissioners v. Umbehr (1996) ruled that ending a trash hauler’s county contract because of his criticism of the board violated his First...

• Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri (2011)

  Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri (2011) addressed the issue of speech and petition by public employees under the First Amendment. Petitions should involve a...

• Branti v. Finkel (1980)

  Branti v. Finkel (1980) ruled that the First Amendment protects public employees from dismissal based on their political beliefs. It pitted workers' rights...

• Broadrick v. Oklahoma (1973)

  Broadrick v. Oklahoma (1973) held that states can limit their employees’ partisan political activities without violating their First Amendment rights...

• City of San Diego v. Roe (2005)

  City of San Diego v. Roe (2005) refined the “public concern” test when determining whether a government employee could be fired for their speech or...

• Connick v. Myers (1983)

  Connick v. Myers (1983) clarified First Amendment protection for public employees by explaining how courts should balance an employee’s rights against an...

• Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (1985)

  Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense Fund (1985) said excluding some organizations from soliciting contributions from federal employees didn't violate the First...

• Department of Homeland Security v. MacLean (2015)

  The First Amendment-adjacent case Department of Homeland Security v. MacLean (2015) dealt with the TSA firing an air marshal for whistleblowing about a...

• Elrod v. Burns (1976)

  Elrod v. Burns (1976) said a sheriff violated the First Amendment when he conditioned the retention of a government job upon membership in a specific political...

• Ex parte Curtis (1882)

  The dissent in Ex parte Curtis (1882), a case involving a form of political patronage, specifically evoked the First Amendment freedoms of speech, press, and...

• Garcetti v. Ceballos (2006)

  In Garcetti v. Ceballos, the court ruled that the First Amendment does not apply to speech issued as part of the routine duties of public employees...

• Givhan v. Western Line Consolidated School District (1979)

  In Givhan v. Western Line Consolidated School District, the Court said public employees do not forfeit First Amendment rights when communicating privately to a...

• Heffernan v. City of Paterson (2016)

  The Court said in Heffernan v. City of Paterson (2016) that employees can sue for retaliatory demotion, even if the demotion is based on false First Amendment...

• Kennedy v. Bremerton School District (2022)

  In Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, the Supreme Court ruled that a coach-led prayer on the 50-yard line did not violate the establishment clause of the...

• Lane v. Franks (2014)

  In Lane v. Franks (2014), the Supreme Court said that the First Amendment protected a public employee who was terminated after providing truthful court...

• McAuliffe v. Mayor of New Bedford (1892)
• McAuliffe v. Mayor of New Bedford (Mass.) (1892)

  McAuliffe v. Mayor of New Bedford (Mass., 1892) limited a public employee’s First Amendment rights. The Supreme Court granted more protection to public...

• Mount Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle (1977)

  Mount Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle (1977) dealt with claims that a school teacher was denied tenure for his First Amendment-...

• O'Hare Truck Service v. City of Northlake (1996)

  O’Hare Truck Service v. City of Northlake (1996) ruled that retaliation by government officials against contractors for political associations violates First...

• Pickering v. Board of Education (1968)

  Pickering v. Board of Education (1968), the seminal case on public employees' First Amendment rights, said they do not give up their right to speak on matters...

• Rankin v. McPherson (1987)

  Rankin v. McPherson (1987) ruled that firing a government worker who made a controversial remark about the Reagan assassination attempt violated her First...

• Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois (1990)

  Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois (1990) said a governor's order requiring his approval for all public employee hiring and firing violated the First...

• Snepp v. United States (1980)

  Snepp v. United States (1980) said requiring pre-publication review of books by government employees did not violate the First Amendment rights of the authors...

• Trusz v. UBS Realty Investors, LLC (Conn.) (2015)

  Trusz v. UBS Realty Investors, LLC (Conn. 2015) provided greater First Amendment protection to public employees under a state constitution than the U.S. Supreme...

• United Public Workers of America v. Mitchell (1947)

  The U.S. Supreme Court in 1947 upheld the Hatch Act against a challenge that it restricted the free speech rights of government employees by preventing them...

• United States Civil Service Commission v. National Association of Letter Carriers (1973 )

  In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court for a second time upheld the constitutionality of the Hatch Act against claims that it violated the free speech rights of...

• United States v. National Treasury Employees Union (1995)

  U.S. v. National Treasury Employees Union (1995) invalidated an honorarium ban that was part of ethics reform, saying it restricted First Amendment rights of...

• Waters v. Churchill (1994)

  Waters v. Churchill (1994) looked at the First Amendment rights of public employees and what should be done when there is a dispute about the nature of the...