State lawyer fired for anti-gay blog posts can't collect unemployment pay, appeals court rules
A Michigan appeals court has ruled that an assistant attorney general can’t collect unemployment benefits after his firing for harassing a gay student leader on his blog.
In a decision (PDF) released on Friday, the Michigan Court of Appeals said that the firing of Andrew Shirvell was justified because he undermined specific missions of the attorney general’s office, including its anti-cyberbullying campaign, report the Associated Press and the Michigan Daily. Shirvell’s free speech interests were outweighed by the government’s need for efficient provision of services, the court said.
Shirvell’s conduct was detrimental to relationships with co-workers and damaged his ability to perform his responsibilities, the appeals court said. His employer “could have reasonably concluded that Shirvell compromised his ability to appear in court as a representative of the entire citizenry of the state when, in the words of [his supervisor], Shirvell had lost all credibility and had become the ‘paradigm of the bigot,’ ” the appeals court said.
The decision overturns a ruling by an Ingham County judge who found that the Shirvell could collect unemployment benefits because he was fired for protected speech.
Shirvell had targeted Michigan student assembly president Chris Armstrong, calling him a “radical homosexual activist,” a “privileged pervert” and a “racist liar.” In August 2012 federal jurors awarded Armstrong $4.5 million in his defamation suit against Shirvell.
Shirvell, who now lives in Florida, said in a statement that the appeals court decision is flawed and he plans to appeal. “Every public employee, whether liberal or conservative, will now be in fear of what they’re doing on their off hours,” he told the Associated Press.
