Sergeant’s Social Media Post Causes Police Department Disruption, Free Speech Claim Rejected

In Graziosi v. City of Greenville, Case No: 4:12-CV-68 (U.S. District Court, N.D. Mississippi, Greenville Division, order entered December 3, 2013), the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi held that a police sergeant could not pursue a free speech retaliation claim against the city of Greenville, Mississippi or its police chief after she was fired from the police department for posting on the mayor’s Facebook page that it was “totally unacceptable” the department had not sent a representative to the funeral of an officer killed on duty. Although the sergeant made the post from her personal computer while off duty, the court found her speech unprotected because it was not made as a private citizen speaking on a matter of public concern. The department’s interest in maintaining confidence in its leadership and discipline policy outweighed any constitutional right the sergeant had in making the speech.