Lane v. Franks

• Citation: 573 U.S. 228,189 L.Ed.2d 312,134 S.Ct. 2369
• Decision Date: 19 June 2014
• Docket Number: No. 13–483.,13–483.
• Parties: Edward R. LANE, Petitioner v. Steve FRANKS, in his individual capacity, and Susan Burrow, in her official capacity as Acting President of Central Alabama Community College.
• Court: United States Supreme Court

573 U.S. 228

134 S.Ct. 2369

189 L.Ed.2d 312

Edward R. LANE, Petitioner

v.Steve FRANKS, in his individual capacity, and Susan Burrow, in her official capacity as Acting President of Central Alabama Community College.

No. 13–483.

Supreme Court of the United States

Argued April 28, 2014.

Decided June 19, 2014.

Tejinder Singh, Irvine, CA, for Petitioner.

Ian H. Gershengorn, for the United States as amicus curiae, by special leave of the Court, supporting affirmance in part and reversal in part.

Luther J. Strange, III, Attorney General, for Respondent Susan Burrow.

Mark T. Waggoner, Birmingham, AL, for Respondent Steve Franks.

Luther Strange, Alabama Attorney General, Andrew L. Brasher, Solicitor General, Counsel of Record, Megan A. Kirkpatrick, Assistant Solicitor General, Office of the Alabama Attorney General, Montgomery, AL, for Respondent Susan Burrow.

Tejinder Singh, Counsel of Record, Thomas C. Goldstein, Kevin K. Russell, Goldstein & Russell, P.C., Washington, DC, for Petitioner.

Collin O'Connor Udell, Jackson Lewis P.C., Hartford, CT, Mark T. Waggoner, Counsel of Record, Jennifer Morgan, Hand Arendall LLC, Birmingham, AL, for Respondent Steve Franks.

Justice SOTOMAYOR delivered the opinion of the Court.

Almost 50 years ago, this Court declared that citizens do not surrender their First Amendment rights by accepting public employment. Rather, the First Amendment protection of a public employee's speech depends on a careful balance "between the interests of the [employee], as a citizen, in commenting upon matters of public concern and the interest of the State, as an employer, in promoting the efficiency of the public services it performs through its employees." Pickering v. Board of Ed. of Township High School Dist. 205, Will Cty., 391 U.S. 563, 568, 88 S.Ct. 1731, 20 L.Ed.2d 811 (1968). In Pickering, the Court struck the balance in favor of the public employee, extending First Amendment protection to a teacher who was fired after writing a letter to the editor of a local newspaper criticizing the school board that employed him. Today, we consider whether the First Amendment similarly protects a public employee who provided truthful sworn testimony, compelled by subpoena, outside the course of his ordinary job responsibilities. We hold that it does.

I

In 2006, Central Alabama Community College (CACC) hired petitioner Edward Lane to be the Director of Community Intensive Training for Youth (CITY), a statewide program for underprivileged youth. CACC hired Lane on a probationary basis. In his capacity as Director, Lane was responsible for overseeing CITY's day-to-day operations, hiring and firing employees, and making decisions with respect to the program's finances.

At the time of Lane's appointment, CITY faced significant financial difficulties. That prompted Lane to conduct a comprehensive audit of the program's expenses. The audit revealed that Suzanne Schmitz, an Alabama State Representative on CITY's payroll, had not been reporting to her CITY office. After unfruitful discussions with Schmitz, Lane shared his finding with CACC's president and its attorney. They warned him that firing Schmitz could have negative repercussions for him and CACC.

Lane nonetheless contacted Schmitz again and instructed her to show up to the Huntsville office to serve as a counselor. Schmitz refused; she responded that she wished to " ‘continue to serve the CITY program in the same manner as [she had] in the past.’ " Lane v. Central Ala. Community College, 523 Fed.Appx. 709, 710 (C.A.11 2013) (per curiam ). Lane fired her shortly thereafter. Schmitz told another CITY employee, Charles Foley, that she intended to " ‘get [Lane] back’ " for firing her. 2012 WL 5289412, *1 (N.D.Ala., Oct. 18, 2012). She also said that if Lane ever requested money from the state legislature for the program, she would tell him, " ‘[y]ou're fired.’ " Ibid.

Schmitz' termination drew the attention of many, including agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which initiated an investigation into Schmitz' employment with CITY. In November 2006, Lane testified before a federal grand jury about his reasons for firing Schmitz. In January 2008, the grand jury indicted Schmitz on four counts of mail fraud and four counts of theft concerning a program receiving federal funds. See United States v. Schmitz, 634 F.3d 1247, 1256–1257 (C.A.11 2011). The indictment alleged that Schmitz had collected $177,251.82 in federal funds even though she performed " ‘virtually no services,’ " " ‘generated virtually no work product,’ " and " ‘rarely even appeared for work at the CITY Program offices.’ " Id., at 1260. It further alleged that Schmitz had submitted false statements concerning the hours she worked and the nature of the services she performed. Id., at 1257.

Schmitz' trial, which garnered extensive press coverage,¹ commenced in August 2008. Lane testified, under subpoena, regarding the events that led to his terminating Schmitz. The jury failed to reach a verdict. Roughly six months later, federal prosecutors retried Schmitz, and Lane testified once again. This time, the jury convicted Schmitz on three counts of mail fraud and four counts of theft concerning a program receiving federal funds. The District Court sentenced her to 30 months in prison and ordered her to pay $177,251.82 in restitution and forfeiture.

Meanwhile, CITY continued to experience considerable budget shortfalls. In November 2008, Lane began reporting to respondent Steve Franks, who had become president of CACC in January 2008. Lane recommended that Franks consider layoffs to address the financial difficulties. In January 2009, Franks decided to terminate 29 probationary CITY employees, including Lane. Shortly thereafter, however, Franks rescinded all but 2 of the 29 terminations—those of Lane and one other employee—because of an "ambiguity in [those other employees'] probationary service." Brief for Respondent Franks 11. Franks claims that he "did not rescind Lane's termination ... because he believed that Lane was in a fundamentally different category than the other employees: he was the director of the entire CITY program , and not simply an employee." Ibid. In September 2009, CACC eliminated the CITY program and terminated the program's remaining employees. Franks later retired, and respondent Susan Burrow, the current Acting President of CACC, replaced him while this case was pending before the Eleventh Circuit.

In January 2011, Lane sued Franks in his individual and official capacities under Rev. Stat. § 1979, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that Franks had violated the First Amendment by firing him in retaliation for his testimony against Schmitz.² Lane sought damages from Franks in his individual capacity and sought equitable relief, including reinstatement, from Franks in his official capacity.³

The District Court granted Franks' motion for summary judgment. Although the court concluded that the record raised "genuine issues of material fact ... concerning [Franks'] true motivation for terminating [Lane's] employment," 2012 WL 5289412, *6, it held that Franks was entitled to qualified immunity as to the damages claims because "a reasonable government official in [Franks'] position would not have had reason to believe that the Constitution protected [Lane's] testimony," id., *12. The District Court relied on Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410, 126 S.Ct. 1951, 164 L.Ed.2d 689 (2006), which held that " ‘when public employees make statements pursuant to their official duties, the employees are not speaking as citizens for First Amendment purposes.’ " 2012 WL 5289412, *10 (quoting Garcetti, 547 U.S., at 421, 126 S.Ct. 1951). The court found no violation of clearly established law because Lane had "learned of the information that he testified about while working as Director at [CITY]," such that his "speech [could] still be considered as part of his official job duties and not made as a citizen on a matter of public concern." 2012 WL 5289412, *10.

The Eleventh Circuit affirmed. 523 Fed.Appx., at 710. Like the District Court, it relied extensively on Garcetti . It reasoned that, "[e]ven if an employee was not required to make the speech as part of his official duties, he enjoys no First Amendment protection if his speech ‘owes its existence to [the] employee's professional responsibilities' and is ‘a product that the "employer himself has commissioned or created." ’ " Id., at 711 (quoting Abdur–Rahman v. Walker, 567 F.3d 1278, 1283 (C.A.11 2009) ). The court concluded that Lane spoke as an employee and not as a citizen because he was acting pursuant to his official duties when he investigated Schmitz' employment, spoke with Schmitz and CACC officials regarding the issue, and terminated Schmitz. 523 Fed.Appx., at 712. "That Lane testified about his official activities pursuant to a subpoena and in the litigation context," the court continued, "does not bring Lane's speech within the protection of the First Amendment." Ibid . The Eleventh Circuit also concluded that, "even if ... a constitutional violation of Lane's First Amendment rights occurred in these circumstances, Franks would be entitled to qualified immunity in his personal capacity" because the right at issue had not been clearly established. Id., at 711, n. 2.

We granted certiorari, 571 U.S. ––––, 134 S.Ct. 999, 187 L.Ed.2d 848 (2014), to resolve discord among the Courts of Appeals as to whether public employees may be fired—or suffer other adverse employment consequences—for providing truthful subpoenaed testimony outside the course of their ordinary job responsibilities. Compare 523 Fed.Appx., at 712 (case below), with, e.g., Reilly v. Atlantic City, 532 F.3d 216, 231 (C.A.3 2008).

II

Speech by citizens on matters of public concern lies at the heart of the First Amendment, which "was fashioned to assure unfettered interchange of ideas for the bringing about of political and social changes desired by the people," Roth v. United States, 354 U.S....