Disruptive Nature of Teacher’s Blog Entries Rendered Her Speech Unprotected

A discharged Pennsylvania high school teacher took a second bite at the legal apple, in hopes of reviving her First Amendment retaliation claims against the Central Bucks County School District.

Natalie Munroe soared to media prominence after her controversial private blog titled: “Where are we going, and why are we in this handbasket?” garnered national media attention and sparked a firestorm of negative publicity.

The blog said some parents are “breeding a disgusting brood of insolent, unappreciative, selfish brats,” and described students as jerks, “rat-like” and whiny.

The District immediately placed Munroe on paid suspension and eventually terminated her employment some 15 months later. Not surprisingly, she sought recourse in the courts, and filed a Section 1983 lawsuit alleging harassment and termination based on expressed criticisms of the school.

picture: http://www.queenieaustralia.com/pink-formal-dresses

But as I discussed in my 2014 blog post on Munroe v. Central Bucks School District, 2014 WL 3700325, her suit failed to survive summary judgment by a Pennsylvania federal district court.

The court said the disruptive nature of the teacher’s speech diminished any legitimate interest in its expression, thereby making it unnecessary to reach the question of whether her statements were a direct cause of her termination.

Fast forward, one year later.

Munroe appealed to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, claiming the lower court failed to apply the Pickering balancing test in determining whether her speech implicated a matter of public concern.

Munroe said her blog post, “likely because of the strong language,” started a national conversation “about the performance and expectations of students in an affluent, suburban public high school.”

But the appeals court affirmed, noting that despite satisfying the public concern requirement, her speech caused disruption, and under Pickering, the school district’s interest outweighed...