Summary
The Supreme Court denied certiorari in MacRae v. Mattos, a case concerning a former public school employee terminated for pre-employment political social media posts. In a statement respecting the denial, Justice Thomas criticized the First Circuit's application of the Pickering-Garcetti balancing test, arguing that the lower court improperly discounted the employee's First Amendment interest based on post tone and relied on speculative or viewpoint-based factors to justify the employer's disruption concerns. While agreeing that the petition did not squarely challenge the framework's applicability to pre-employment speech, Thomas warned against lower courts misapplying precedent to suppress disfavored political expression.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the First Circuit correctly applied the Pickering‑Garcetti balancing test to pre‑employment speech by a public employee
- Whether the balancing test applies at all to unrelated pre‑employment speech
Key quotations
““Speech on matters of public concern is at the heart of the First Amendment’s protection.”” (at 137)
Factual background
Kari MacRae, a public school employee, posted six political memes on TikTok expressing views on immigration, gender, and race. Hanover Public Schools fired her for those posts. She sued for retaliation under the First Amendment; the district court entered summary judgment for the school, and the First Circuit affirmed.
Procedural history
The district court granted summary judgment to the school officials; the First Circuit affirmed that decision. The petition for certiorari was denied by this Court.