A federal appellate court has affirmed a Pittsburgh judge's ruling to uphold the right of Pittsburgh Regional Transit employees to wear Black Lives Matter masks or other masks expressing opinions on social or political issues.
A three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a decision last year by U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan that said the transit agency formerly known as Port Authority of Allegheny County had violated its employees’ right to free speech.
Judge Ranjan had granted a request for a preliminary injunction from Local 85 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents PRT workers, to stop the authority from banning the masks.
The union had sued after the authority tried to discipline workers for wearing the masks, then changed its policy to force workers to wear masks that the authority issued.
PRT said its policy on uniforms prohibited employees from making political or social statements because it could be disruptive to authority operations if passengers on buses had differing views.
Judge Ranjan disagreed, saying the Black Lives Matter masks or other masks or badges showing personal opinion are not disruptive.
The circuit judges agreed with Judge Ranjan. While speech by government employees does not enjoy the same protections as speech from members of the public, the judges said the masks represent personal opinions of the employees as citizens, not in the capacity of their official duties.
As such, the masks are protected under the First Amendment and PRT’s mask rules "restrict speech on matters of public concern."
First Published: June 29, 2022, 5:11 p.m.
