Comments on: After furor, feds walk back campus speech/discipline code a bit https://www.overlawyered.com/2013/06/after-furor-feds-walk-back-campus-speechdiscipline-code-bit/ Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Sat, 13 Dec 2014 13:03:39 +0000 hourly 1 By: Hans Bader https://www.overlawyered.com/2013/06/after-furor-feds-walk-back-campus-speechdiscipline-code-bit/comment-page-1/#comment-218329 Wed, 05 Jun 2013 19:37:28 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=38933#comment-218329 It’s worth noting that a protracted investigation of speech can violate the First Amendment even if it doesn’t lead to any formal discipline. See White v. Lee, 227 F.3d 1214 (9th Cir. 2000) (holding federal civil-rights officials liable for investigating protected speech that allegedly discriminated against the disabled).

It’s also worth noting that some core political speech is protected even if it DOES create a hostile environment and offend a reasonable person. For example, a federal appeals court dismissed a racial-harassment lawsuit over a professor’s racially charged immigration emails, holding that they were protected speech, especially since they were not aimed at any specific Hispanic plaintiff who sued over them alleging a hostile work environment. (See Rodriguez v. Maricopa Community College, 605 F.3d 703 (9th Cir. 2010).)

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