Fuller v. Borough of Waynesburg

Fuller v. Borough of Waynesburg, 94 Pa. Commw. 361, 503 A.2d 1031 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1986), involved a factual scenario similar to the instant matter. In Fuller, Lieutenant Clark, of the Waynesburg Police Department, overheard a conversation between Fuller, another police officer, and a non-member of the police force. Lieutenant Clark found that the conversation involved statements critical of the police department and in direct contravention of departmental regulations, which stated: No member of the department shall criticize the department or any of its members to any person or agency. Fuller was ordered to submit a written memorandum detailing the part of the conversation in which departmental matters were discussed. Fuller began to write the memorandum, but subsequently changed his mind and tore up the memorandum in front of Lieutenant Clark, who again ordered compliance, and again Fuller refused. Disciplinary proceedings were commenced, resulting in Fuller's dismissal. This dismissal was upheld by the Waynesburg Civil Service Commission and the Court of Common Pleas of Greene County, following a de novo hearing. In writing for a unanimous panel, Judge Doyle held that the police department's regulation, which prohibited criticism of the department made to the public rather than to the appropriate supervisory personnel, was not constitutionally overbroad. Id., at 1033, n.4.