Freedom of Speech: Hospital Manager's Claims Thrown Out

Legal Eagle Eye Newsletter for the Nursing Profession

June 1997  

  Quick Summary: Hospital managers had no basis to claim their freedom of speech was violated when they were terminated after the hospital board brought in new management to run the hospital.

   The group of managers had signed and presented to the board of trustees a brief letter expressing their support for renewing the existing management contract, advice which the board of trustees chose not to follow.

   The court ruled the managers had no right to sue for retaliation for exercise of their right to freedom of speech. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, an employee’s right to freedom of speech will outweigh the employer’s right to carry out its operations efficiently without dissent only when the employee is speaking out on a matter of concern to the public.

   In this case the letter the managers signed and presented to the hospital’s trustees expressed nothing more than the managers’ opinion that the then-current management company should be retained. The letter offered no reason or explanation for the opinions expressed.

   There was nothing in the letter intended to inform the public about the manner in which the hospital was being managed. There was no effort being made by the managers to expose government ineptitude, waste or corruption, or any discussion of concrete facts to be weighed by the hospital board of trustees in selecting one management company over another.