地方政府可以对违反社交媒体政策的员工进行纪律处分吗?

Earlier this year the Fourth Circuit decided a case that pitted two fundamental interests against each other: a public employee’s First Amendment right to free speech and the government’s ability to provide efficient and effective service to the public. 在社交媒体时代, 这两种利益之间的历史紧张关系只会变得更加有争议.

In Grutzmacher v. 霍华德县, 851 F.3d 333(第4章. 2017),  a battalion chief of Maryland’s 霍华德县 Fire Department (“Department”) sued 这个部门 for retaliatory firing based on his Facebook posts and “likes.这是对2011年Facebook事件的回应, 该部门起草了一份社交媒体政策, 标题为社交媒体指南, 以及随附的行为准则. 社交媒体指南禁止以下人员:

“[F]不得张贴或发表任何声明, 代言, 或者其他语言, 信息, images or personnel matters that could reasonably be interpreted to represent or undermine the views or positions of 这个部门, 霍华德县, 或代表部门或县的官员…. [F] from张贴或发布声明, 可能被合理地解释为歧视性的意见或信息, 骚扰, 诽谤, 种族或民族贬损的, 或性暴力时这样的言论, 意见或信息, may place 这个部门 in disrepute or negatively impact the ability of 这个部门 in carrying out its mission… [From] post[ing] any 信息 or images involving off-duty activities that may impugn the reputation of 这个部门 or any member of 这个部门." 

行为准则, ，目的是确保部门人员在工作和下班时都保持“诚信和道德操守”,禁止部门人员“故意从事(从事)行为”, 通过行动或言语, 哪些是不尊重的, 否则就会削弱权威, a supervisor or the chain of command" and "publicly criticiz[ing] or ridicul[ing] 这个部门 or 霍华德县 government or their policies" while requiring "[m]embers [to] conduct themselves at all times, 无论是上班还是下班, 以一种有利于该部的方式.《澳门十大正规网赌网址》还禁止部门员工从事与部门“不相称的”行为, 它将其定义为“任何不利于会员个人的行为”, 这个部门, 或县政府, 或有损于公众对本署的信任，或有损于本署的运作及效率." 

就在该部通过《十大正规网赌网址》和《澳门十大正规网赌网址》一年多之后, the employee posted a statement on Facebook referencing news coverage of a gun control debate and alluded to killing a “liberal … with another liberal.” 的 employee subsequently “liked” a supportive but racially suggestive reply on his gun control post made by a county volunteer paramedic. 的 statement and “like” were brought to the attention of Department officials who told the employee his post violated 这个部门’s Social Media Guidelines and Code of Conduct and directed the employee to remove it. 的 employee complied but posted another statement on Facebook deriding 这个部门’s Guidelines and Code of Conduct and invoking the First Amendment’s constitutional guarantee of free speech. 的 employee also later “liked” a picture of an elderly woman with her middle finger raised that has a caption directing the picture at 这个部门’s captain. 最终, 这个部门 fired the employee citing his Facebook activity as being violations of 这个部门’s Guidelines and Code of Conduct. 的 employee then sued 这个部门 alleging his firing was retaliation against him for exercising his First Amendment rights and he also challenged the constitutionality of 这个部门’s Social Media Guidelines and Code of Conduct.

的 Court upheld the termination of the employee finding that the employee’s speech on matters of public concern regarding gun control and the department’s social media policy were outweighed by the department’s interests in limiting dissension and discord, 避免出现种族偏见, 促进社会对执行部门政策的信任, 鼓励不尊重和不服从.

的 Grutzmacher opinion reflects the complexities that government agencies and departments face when attempting to craft social media policies that are commonplace in other businesses. 政府实体, 因为雇主, 面对受到宪法挑战的独特挑战，因为就业决定构成国家行为. 此外, 公职人员在法律中享有特殊地位，法律保护他们就公众关注的问题发言. 的 law views public employees as a kind of check on government entities because those employees are the most familiar with that entity’s activities and are in the best position to speak out those issues that are matters of public concern. 然而, 政府机构, 作为雇主, 有效率地运作，以便有效地为市民提供十大正规网赌网址，是否有利益关系. Grutzmacher 是两种利益冲突的产物在这种情况下, the Fourth Circuit found that the government’s interest in efficient and effective operations outweighed Buker’s interests in speaking freely on public matters.

Government officials overseeing public entities and agencies can gain valuable insights from the Fourth Circuit’s treatment of Buker’s Facebook statements. 的 Grutzmacher court did not rule on Buker’s challenge to the Social Media Guidelines and Code of Conduct because 这个部门 removed the allegedly offensive provisions, 因此，法院认为布克在这方面的主张没有实际意义. But the court did provide a valuable overview of what those in government entities with hiring and firing responsibilities should keep in mind when evaluating a public employee’s social media conduct with respect to a social media policy:

• 社交媒体上的“赞”是一种言论.
• 涉及公众关注的言论受宪法保护.
• 当言论涉及社会问题时，它就涉及公众关注的问题, 政治, 或者对社区的其他兴趣.
• 在询问社区成员是否真正关心员工的演讲时，要考虑上下文和常识.
• 涉及个人利益的言论不受宪法保护.
• 个人不满和对雇佣条件的投诉不构成对公众关注事项的言论.
• 内部政策事宜, 包括对偏袒的指控, 就业的谣言, 以及其他关于人际关系不和谐的抱怨, 不被视为公共政策事项吗.
• 考虑演说对政府机构的使命、职能和人员的影响.

使用这些规则 Grutzmacher court found that the employee’s statements on gun control legislation and 这个部门’s Social Media Guidelines were protected under the public employee speech doctrine as matters of public concern. 另一方面, 这位员工对那位竖起中指的老妇人的“赞”是一种没有保护的个人不满. 然而, the employee’s social media activity “frustrated 这个部门’s public safety mission and threated ‘community trust’ in 这个部门,破坏了该部的等级指挥和纪律结构, 而且它有可能“削弱司法部在公众中的地位”.法庭认为, each of those government interests outweighed the employee’s interest in speaking on matters of gun control and 这个部门’s Social Media Guidelines and Code of Conduct.

原告在 Grutzmacher 于6月19日向美国最高法院提交了一份请愿书, 2017, 所以这个案子还没有结束. 如果最高法院决定审理此案, it would provide further clarity on how government officials should evaluate a public employee’s social media activity and speech. 与此同时, government officials can discipline employees for violation of their social media policies but they should exercise caution when crafting and applying social media policies and insure their actions comply with current case law.

杰夫·罗森 是澳门十大正规网赌网址的股东吗 & 科沃德的执业重点是地方政府和劳动就业事务.  欲了解更多信息，请联系Jeff jrosen@skyvsky.net or (757) 490-6253.