Public employee, First Amendment rights, immunity of public official.

Judith Caron, appeals a lower court's ruling on her civil action against her supervisors at the Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare. Caron was discharged from her position with the department after she criticized the agency's policy on smoking in the workplace in several television interviews. Caron said she had been warned not to participate in the interviews. She was dismissed for insubordination. Caron filed a civil complaint against three supervisors at the department charging violations of her First Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution.

A superior court judge granted summary judgment in favor of two of the three men named in the lawsuit. The judge noted that the two supervisors "enjoyed a qualified immunity" from liability from the Caron's claims under State and Federal civil rights acts.

Caron wins. The Massachusetts Appeals Court held that Caron was exercising her rights of free speech when she appeared on television and criticized her employer's anti-smoking policies. The appeals court said the lower court erred in allowing the summary judgment. By addressing a public issue in the manner in which she did, Caron was entitled to First Amendment protection, the court ruled.