Case Sheets: Government Employees - Rhode Island Affiliate, ACLU (American Civil LIberties Union)

THE RHODE ISLAND ACLU AND THE RIGHTS OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

For years, the R.I. ACLU has actively worked to protect the free speech and due process rights of government employees. Below are some of the cases in which the Affiliate has sought to vindicate those rights over those years:

1987: Smith v. Gallant -- Favorably settled federal lawsuit on behalf of a teacher’s aide who was summarily fired for criticizing aspects of the school’s special education program.

1989: Tefft v. Town of Hopkinton -- Favorably settled federal lawsuit on behalf of civilian police dispatchers who had been barred from submitting a letter-to-the-editor to a newspaper about their working conditions.

1991: Tucker v. Glocester Police Department -- Favorably settled complaint challenging the use on police applicants of a standardized psychological test which asked questions relating to religious beliefs.

1992: Gewirtz v. Rizzini -- Favorably settled federal suit challenging an Ethics Commission rule limiting state employees from participating in any way in matters in which the state had a “substantial interest.”

1993: Cook v. Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals -- Successful federal lawsuit challenging the state’s denial of employment to a person solely on the basis of her obesity.

1993: Robinson v. City of East Providence -- Successful state court challenge to a police matron’s summary termination after her sister ran for City Council against an incumbent.

1994: Estey v. Internal Revenue Service -- Favorably settled federal lawsuit on behalf of an IRS employee who had been barred from submitting for publication an article he had written on pension reform.

1995: Cirelli v. Town of Johnston -- Successful federal lawsuit challenging school officials’ refusal to allow a high school teacher to videotape safety violations at the school, or to release the videotapes to third parties.

1998: Providence Firefighters Local #799 v. Partington -- Successful federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Providence fire department order barring all employees from speaking to the media without approval of the fire chief.

2001: State of Rhode Island v. United States -- “Friend of the court” brief filed in this “sovereign immunity” case, opposing the state’s attempt to halt a federal investigation of the whistleblowing and retaliation claims of three DEM employees.

2003: Carlow v. Mruk -- Successful lawsuit challenging a “gag order” issued by a Coventry Fire District Chief against two firefighters after they publicly expressed fire department-related concerns about school safety.