Compton Agrees to Drop Gag Order for Employees

As part of a legal settlement, the city of Compton agreed this week to rescind an order that barred its employees from discussing their work.

The Limitations on Public Employee Freedom of Speech order, which was issued last summer, warned employees that they would be fired for disruptive statements that detracted from the business of running the city. “Not all statements which regard a matter of public concern are protected by the 1st Amendment,” said the two-page order, which recommended that employees consult with personal attorneys before talking about city affairs.

First Amendment scholars quickly labeled the policy unconstitutional, and public employee unions called it an illegal gag order. In August, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 2325, filed a legal challenge to the policy in federal court.

This week, city officials and union attorneys finalized a settlement of the policy. The order will be rescinded, and city taxpayers will pay $6,500 in legal costs, said two people involved in the case. Lawyers said they had agreed not to discuss the specifics of the settlement.

Compton Fire Battalion Chief James Murphy, a lead plaintiff in the case, called the settlement “a victory for all the city employees of Compton.”

“This reminds those of us who work in Compton that we do still live in America,” Murphy said. “We have the right to say whatever we please.”

City Atty. Legrand H. Clegg II did not return a phone call seeking comment. Clegg had expressed some doubts about the order, which was formulated without his involvement, but subsequently defended it.

At the time of its issue, Mayor Omar Bradley said the order was needed because employees, encouraged by activists and the media, had been leveling unfair criticism against the city. In recent months, union activists and Bradley’s opponents have cited the order in describing the mayor as a tyrant and opposing his April 17 reelection bid.

City spokesman Keith Davis declined to comment, adding only that the policy’s author, City Manager John Johnson, and other officials want to move on.