Court rules against fired state official

Monday, April 23, 2001 | 10:39 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- An assistant prison director who was fired for criticizing his boss does not have the constitutional protection of free speech in relation to his case, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.

The court said the First Amendment "restricts the state's ability to fire employees who speak out on matters of public concern. But this doctrine is limited ... "

George Weeks was an assistant director in the Department of Prisons who had received outstanding performance evaluations.

In October 1997 Weeks received an inquiry from the Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse about the status of the department's drug rehabilitation program. Weeks answered by saying the programs were "at risk of discontinuation due to (Director Bob) Bayer's delays in ensuring and allotting funding for the program."

A week later Bayer fired Weeks. Weeks sued in federal court, saying his termination violated his right to free speech. Federal Judge David Hagen dismissed the suit, and Weeks appealed.

The appeals court, in a decision by Judge M. Margaret McKeown, said Friday the comments by Weeks were "mere everyday conversation between government employees. To protect this single comment would go a long way toward rendering actionable every job-related conversation between government employees.

"Water cooler conversation would become the stuff of First Amendment claims, and casual remarks about work would be elevated to constitutional complaints," wrote McKeown.

Weeks did not speak publicly about an alleged wrongdoing in government, he did not speak to a supervisor and he never urged reform of a wayward policy that might have raised his comments to the status of meriting free speech protection, the court noted.