Murray

MEMORANDUM *

Dennis Murray appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants, who were Murray’s superiors at the Washington State Department of Ecology (“Department”) during the relevant period. Reviewing the district court’s order de novo, Posey v. Lake Pend Oreille Sch. Dist. No. 84, 546 F.3d 1121, 1126 (9th Cir.2008), we affirm.

Even assuming that Murray spoke as a private citizen on matters of public concern and that his speech was a motivating factor for the adverse employment actions taken against him, we conclude under the Pickering balancing test that the defendants had adequate justification for treating Murray differently from other members of the general public. See Eng v. Cooley, 552 F.3d 1062, 1070-71 (9th Cir.2009). The Department’s interests in effecting the timely and efficient completion of the TMDL process and otherwise carrying out its mission in an effective manner outweighed Murray’s First Amendment interests. See Waters v. Churchill, 511 U.S. 661, 675 , 114 S.Ct. 1878 , 128 L.Ed.2d 686 (1994) (plurality); Dible v. City of Chandler, 515 F.3d 918, 928 (9th Cir.2008). For similar reasons we conclude that the “prior restraints”…