By Fred Hanson
The Patriot Ledger
QUINCY, Mass. — A three-judge federal appeals court has agreed with a lower-court decision dismissing a suit brought against the town by Fire Chief Charles Foley.
The chief sued the town and the five members of the then-board of selectmen, saying they violated his free-speech rights for suspending him for three weeks without pay, in part for comments he made at a fire where two young brothers died in 2007.
During a press briefing at the scene, Foley said he felt the response to the fire was hampered by reduced fire department staffing.
Written for the panel by Senior Judge Norman Stahl and issued Tuesday, the decision says Foley needed to show that he was speaking on a matter of public concern as a private citizen.
And while the court found that the issue of fire department staffing is a public concern, it also found that Foley was not speaking as a private citizen, since he was in uniform and on duty at the time.
“Under these circumstances, Foley addressed the media in his official capacity, as chief of the fire department, at a forum to which he had access because of his position,” Stahl wrote.
The panel noted that its finding was limited to this set of circumstances.
“Speaking to the media under the circumstances discussed above, Foley could have hoped and anticipated that his frustration with the budgetary and staffing shortfalls of the department might have reached a greater audience and had a greater impact than if he voiced his views in a different forum,” Stahl wrote. “However, those same circumstances imbued his speech with the official significance that removed it from the First Amendment.”
Foley was unaware of the decision Wednesday night. He referred questions to his lawyer, Kevin G. Powers.
Powers declined to comment Wednesday night, saying he had not yet read the decision.
U.S. District Judge Patti Saris had granted the town’s motion to dismiss the case without a trial a year ago.
Copyright 2010 The Patriot Ledger