CIR Defends Public Servant Demoted for Political Views

On September 13th, CIR filed suit against the state of New York on behalf of New York civil servant Salvatore Davi. Davi, who worked as an Administrative Law Judge in New York’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, was suspended and demoted from his position because he expressed his political views on his Facebook account. His superiors alleged his expression of political views constituted professional misconduct.

Davi’s political speech is clearly protected by the First Amendment, but state officials have acted to punish Davi for exercising his constitutional right. On behalf of Davi, CIR is asking the Court to restore to Davi all status and benefits that would have accrued to him absent his suspension and to purge all related findings of misconduct from his record.

Photo: “#21 :: 01/21/10 :: I program in my sleep.” by Rachel Johnson licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.