Court Upholds Sergent’s Suspension for Violating Department’s Social Media Policy
In September 2019, a newspaper published an article accusing a corrections sergeant for the Illinois Department of Corrections (Department) of posting “offensive” and “Islamophobic” content on Facebook. Soon after, the sergeant was suspended from his position at the Department, and filed a lawsuit to challenge the action. In Hicks v. Illinois Department of Corrections, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that the suspension did not violate Hicks’s free speech or due process rights.
At the time the article was published, the sergeant’s profile was public and listed the Department as his employer. The day after the article ran, the Director of the Department sent an email to all staff reminding them of the Department’s social media policy and code of conduct. A Department investigator then interviewed the sergeant, who stated that his personal views did not have an impact on his work. The investigator concluded that the posts violated the Department's code of conduct and reflected negatively on the Department and its mission. The Department convened a board hearing and recommended a 10-day suspension.
After the sergeant was suspended, he sued the Department and several Department officials involved in the suspension process, alleging violations of his right to free speech and due process. The district court determined that the Department did not violate these rights because the sergeant took deliberate steps to link his Facebook account to his employer and the posts clearly violated the code of conduct and social media policy.
On appeal, the Seventh Circuit first considered whether the Department violated the sergeant’s right to free speech under the First Amendment when it suspended him. The Court noted that the government, when acting as an employer, has greater leeway to moderate the speech of its employees than when the government is acting to restrict the speech of the general public. The Court applied a balancing test to determine whether the sergeant’s free speech interests outweighed the Department’s interest in promoting effective and efficient public services. The Court found that the social media posts could interfere with the Department’s operations, impact the sergeant’s ability to operate within the chain of command, and erode public trust in the Department. As a result, the Seventh Circuit agreed with the district court and held that the Department did not violate Hicks’ right to free speech when it suspended him.
The Court also held that the Department’s code of conduct was not vague and did not violate Hicks’ right to due process. The Department’s code of conduct prohibited activities unbecoming of a government employee and activities that would reflect unfavorably on or impair the Department’s operations. After a review of the sergeant's Facebook posts, the Court concluded that the code clearly prohibited the sergeant’s social media activity and there was no due process violation.
Post Authored by Alexis Carter & Erin Monforti, Ancel Glink
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