Trustees of Chicago State University defeated a lawsuit by a former general counsel who alleged that he was fired in retaliation for speaking out about a possible conflict of interest in the school’s search for a new president, because the Seventh Circuit said his speech lacked protection under the First Amendment.
When Chicago State was looking for a new president, one member of its board of trustees was interested in the job. But general counsel Patrick Cage told the board that allowing a sitting member to seek the position would violate the board’s bylaws.
The member resigned from the board but wasn’t chosen as the new president. Instead, the board picked Rachel Lindsey.
Six weeks after being named president, Lindsey fired Cage, saying he was no longer the right person for the general counsel position.
The US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois properly dismissed Cage’s First Amendment claim because his speech wasn’t protected by the First Amendment, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit said Monday.
The First Amendment only protects a public employee’s right to speak as citizens on matters of public concern, the court said. When those employees make statements pursuant to their duties, they aren’t speaking as citizens for First Amendment purposes, and thus aren’t protected from employer discipline, it said.
Under Cage’s employment...
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