Johnson v. County of Santa Clara

Appeal by plaintiff and appellant from judgment of the Santa Clara County Superior Court.

Question Presented

Appellant’s action is not protected by the First Amendment.

Record

Appellant was a deputy probation officer in the Juvenile Probation Department of Santa Clara County. Michael Kuzirian, supervisor of probation services, received a request by one McDonald, a deputy probation officer, to be put back into field work. Determining that McDonald would be best placed in the unit where appellant was working, Kuzirian decided to transfer appellant to the dependency investigation unit because he had only had experience with delinquency cases, and to appoint McDonald to appellant’s position. Kuzirian felt the transfer would be good for appellant’s professional growth and that he would be valuable to the new unit since he is bilingual.

When informed of the transfer, appellant expressed his regret. That evening he wrote the poem appearing in the footnote.

Appellant showed his poem to a few of his friends in the office and to his immediate supervisor. One of the employees of the probation department, after asking appellant’s permission, copied the poem and posted it on her…