Former Teacher Can’t Sue for Nasty Blog Posts
Remember Natalie Munroe,the Bucks County teacher caught back in 2011 writing an anonymous blog where she disparaged students? She got fired, then sued the school district for wrongful termination, claiming her First Amendment rights were violated.
A court disagrees. U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe rejected Munroe’s suit Friday, saying it failed a legal test that determines if a teacher’s speech is worth the disruption it can cause in school.
The judgment is one of the first court decisions involving public employees and their online comments about the workplace, according to Mary-Rose Papandrea, a professor at Boston College Law School.
“Public employees who blog about their work do so at their own peril,” Papandrea said. “There’s no guarantee that any speech about the workplace will be protected.”
Munroe’s lawyer plans an appeal.
