Oral argument: Rachel Damiano v. Grants Pass School District No. 7

Case
Rachel Damiano v. Grants Pass School District No. 7
Court
9th Cir.
Date argued
Duration
44 min
Panel
RAWLINSON, FORREST, SUNG
Citation
Oral Argument, Damiano v. Grants Pass Sch. Dist. No. 7, No. 23-35288 (9th Cir. June 3, 2024)
Source
Audio on CourtListener(opens another site)

This transcript was made from the court's audio and may contain errors.

1The next case on calendar for argument is Damiano v. Grants Pass School District No. 7 The next case on calendar for argument is Damiano v. Grants Pass School District No. 7 The next case on calendar for argument is Damiano v.

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50Grants Pass School District No. 7 The next case on calendar for argument is Damiano v. Grants Pass School District No. 7 The next case on calendar for argument is Damiano v. Grants Pass School District No. 7 The next case on calendar for argument is Damiano v.

51Grants Pass School District No. 7 The next case on calendar for argument is Damiano v. Grants Pass School District No. 7 The second point then is causation is not at issue at appellant's brief, the footnote 2. They only dispute the disruption point.

52So those things about policy violations, the alleged release of confidential information are not presented before this court. And in any event, retaliation just needs to be based at least in part a motivating factor. It need not be the sole cause of any retaliatory conduct.

53The third point then is that the volume of the complaints alone cannot be a basis for termination actions when, as your honors pointed out, that these complaints, we don't know who they're from. They're not from current North parents or students that don't threaten that their kids will leave the school. And so just the volume alone doesn't mean much, especially in this case where it's a huge range in which the upper end is double the lower end.

54And Defendant Cole himself said that was just a rough estimation. Finally, the district invited policy changes. It encouraged its teachers to bring policy changes to them.

55Rachel and Katie merely advocated to return to the previous policy that the district had used just a month before. Any forecast of disruption is not reasonable here, and this court should reverse. So opposing counsel says the reason that it was changed was because the court had mandated the change.

56And so returning to what was prior wasn't really an option, was it? Your Honor, the district, what Rachel and Katie advocated for was merely a policy change. A single district court opinion doesn't establish what the law is, and it was not a court order directed to the district itself.

57They just advocated for a change, and the Supreme Court has been clear that teachers should be free to advocate for change. Otherwise, we don't really have the ability to create an informed public opinion and continue on with our free debate the First Amendment protects. So it was a district court decision that was interpreted by the school district, not one directed toward the school district.

58That's correct, Your Honor, the district was not bound by any decision I'm aware of. Thank you, Your Honor. Thank you to both counsel for your arguments.

59The case just argued is submitted for decision by the court. We need a break. We'll be in recess for 10 minutes.

60We will return at 1131. All rise.