Baron v. Suffolk County Sheriff's Dept.

U.S. Appeals Court

TERMINATION

FREE SPEECH

HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT 

Baron v. Suffolk County Sheriff's Dept., 402 F.3d 225 (1st Cir. 2005). A county corrections officer who was allegedly harassed by his coworkers after reporting the misconduct of fellow officers, brought an action alleging violations of [section] 1983 and state law. The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants in part, and denied it in part. A jury found in favor of the officer and awarded $500,000 in damages. The defendants appealed. The appeals court affirmed. The court held that the alleged supervisory tolerance of the harassment by coworkers was a matter of inherent public concern, and this was supported by a series of newspaper articles that chronicled mismanagement at the department. The court found that a jury could reasonably have found an unofficial custom in the sheriff's office of retaliation against officers who breached the code of silence. According to the court, the jury award of $500,000 damages had an evidentiary basis, where the officer had testified as to the stress and anguish brought on by the extreme harassment. The officer was shunned at roll call and referred to as a "rat," posters that mocked him were displayed throughout the facility, including one that accused him of being a child molester. The officer also received harassing phone calls at work and once left work to find that his car had been defaced with feces and his tires had been slashed. (Suffolk County House of Correction, Massachusetts)