Posted by Gagged on 3/14/04

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I am a state employee, and I believe the first amendment
rights of myself and a small group of co-workers are being
violated in an attempt to squelch any possible
whistleblowing activity.

The Political Appointee in charge of our Governmental
Entity has decreed no member of my unit may make any
statements critical of the Entity outside of the office,
and if we see or hear anyone doing so, we are to report
them to our supervisor.

The P.A. alleges 'someone' in our unit has made statements
critical of the operations and efficiency of another unit
within our Entity. The P.A. would not identify the speaker
or who reported their speech. Frankly, I think the reason
the P.A. can't identify the 'offender' is that it never
happened. Our unit brought some problems and pointed out
some things that have the appearance of impropriety to
management just 24 hrs before the gag rule was issued and I
think it's a pre-emptive strike to keep us quiet.

I should stress that the problem allegedly 'divulged' was
not privledge information. It relates to the purchase,
delivery, configuration and deployment of equipment. I'm
sure all invoices, delivery manifests etc are a matter of
public record. The problem was well known within the Entity
and in fact had been previously brought to the PA's
attention. The PA did nothing about it. In fact, on further
examination it turned out that the PA's Office's meddling
was the SOURCE of the problem. So even if someone *did*
speak out, I don't think they did anything wrong.

However, my gut says the reason the 'offender' isn't being
identified is that it never happened. I think this is a
strategic move to 'divide & conquer' within the unit by
angering us and making us suspect we are being punished for
the 'other guy's' big mouth. (Ever see "Biloxi Blues"?)

State Employees & First Amendment, 3/14/04, by Gagged.

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