High school teacher suspended over personal blog calling students lazy
Natalie Munroe, an English teacher at Central Bucks East High School in Pennsylvania, was suspended in February 2011 after parents discovered her pseudonymous personal blog describing students as 'lazy' and 'rude.' The district later terminated her employment in 2012; her federal lawsuit was dismissed in 2014.
Natalie Munroe, an English teacher at Central Bucks East High School in Doylestown, PA, kept a small pseudonymous blog ('Where are we going, and why are we in this handbasket?') in which she vented about students, calling some 'lazy whiners,' 'rat-like,' and 'utterly loathsome.' After the posts were publicized in February 2011, the district suspended her with pay; she returned briefly, then was terminated in June 2012. She sued the district under the First Amendment. In Munroe v. Central Bucks School District, 805 F.3d 454 (3d Cir. 2015), the Third Circuit affirmed dismissal, holding her blog posts were not on a matter of public concern entitled to Pickering-Connick protection.