Pyke

ORDER GRANTING SUMMARY JUDGMENT FOR DEFENDANTS

Following the Court’s denial in part of Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment, see Order on Summary Judgment (dkt.51), one of Plaintiffs claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 was set for trial. Because the parties raised an issue for trial that they did not address on summary judgment — whether Plaintiff spoke as a private citizen or public employee — the Court ordered supplemental briefing on the issue. Upon consideration of the parties’ supplemental submissions and the entire record of the case, the Court concludes that Defendants are entitled to summary judgment, because there is no evidence that Plaintiff spoke as a private citizen, and his speech is therefore not entitled to First Amendment protection.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

Plaintiff is an experienced geotechnical engineer with expertise in water resource management. Pyke Dep. (Campbell Decl. (dkt.35) Ex. A) at 10:13-15. Defendant ARCADIS is the United States arm of one of the largest environmental consulting companies in the world. Barrett Decl. (dkt.36) ¶ 3. Plaintiff started working for ARCADIS in August 2008, and spent a substantial percentage of his time on…