In Munroe v. Central Bucks School District, the Third Circuit recently upheld summary judgment for a school district, high school and superintendent in a First Amendment retaliation case filed by a former teacher. Natalie Munroe, a former English teacher at Central Bucks East High School near Philadelphia, maintained a personal blog. Although most of her posts focused on uncontroversial topics such as recipes and vacations, several of her posts were highly critical of her students and coworkers. Munroe opined that she wished she could tell the truth on report cards and say that some of her students were “rat-like,” “frightfully dim,” or “rude, belligerent, argumentative f*cks” and that a student “dresses like a street walker.” She also called a co-worker a “douche” and claimed the administration harassed a colleague until he resigned because he was an ineffective teacher. Although Munroe did not publicize her blog and maintained it primarily for nine subscribers who were close friends or family, students and teachers became aware of her posts once they were covered by the press. Hundreds of parents informed the administration that they did not want their children to be in Munroe’s class. Munroe was given a poor evaluation for inappropriate and disrespectful comments and eventually was terminated. Munroe sued the school and the school district for violation of the First Amendment, but lost at the district court and appellate court levels. The Third Circuit held that although free speech is an important right, the right must be balanced against the government’s right to be an effective employer, by saying:
- “When a citizen enters government service, the citizen by necessity must accept certain limitations on his or her freedom.”
- “Government employers, like their private counterparts, still need a significant degree of control over their employees’ words and actions; without it, there would be little chance for the efficient provision of public services.”
- “A public employer accordingly may impose speech restrictions that are necessary for efficient and effective operations.”
