Matthews v. City of New York

779 F.3d 167 (2015)

From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Matthews v. City of New York

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
779 F.3d 167 (2015)

Facts

Craig Matthews (plaintiff) was a police officer who worked for New York City (the city) (defendant). Matthews’s duties included responding to 911 calls, patrolling, transporting prisoners, and the like. After a quota system was established in Matthews’s precinct, along with a point system that awarded points for the issuance of favored summonses and subtracted points for others, Matthews became alarmed. In Matthews’s view, the quota system was causing arrests, stops, and the issuance of summonses that were not justified. Matthews felt that officers were under pressure to forgo their own discretion in such matters in order to fulfill the quota. Therefore, the implementation of the quota system had a negative impact on the relationship between the police and the community. In 2009 Matthews reported that a quota system had been implemented by his supervisors to his commanding officer twice and to another executive officer once. Matthews also reported the quota system to his new commanding officer in 2011. In fact, community members spoke to the same precinct commanders about the quota system. Matthews alleged that for reporting the quota system he had experienced retaliation in the form of tasks assigned as punishments, inability to work overtime or take leave, poor evaluations, and separation from the partner he had had for his entire tenure as an officer. Matthews filed suit, alleging he had been retaliated against because he spoke to commanding officers regarding the quota system. The city moved for summary judgment, which a trial court granted, finding Matthews had not spoken as a private citizen but as a public employee, and therefore, the First Amendment did not protect his comments. Matthews appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Walker, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 807,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials
  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 807,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 807,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership