Activist Glenn Spagnuolo is too spunky.
Spagnuolo’s steely demeanor regarding an investigation of him by his employer, the city of Longmont, was cited as a final factor in a federal district judge’s decision to allow the investigation to continue.
“Finally, plaintiff is not intimidated by the city and therefore his free speech is not chilled,” said U.S. District Judge Phillip Figa on Friday. “It is unclear whether the average person – or someone perhaps not as brave – would be so uninhibited.”
Spagnuolo, 34, had asked the judge for an injunction against the city to stop its investigation of him over the use of his city cellphone for a call to a radio talk show. During that March 3 call, Spagnuolo defended controversial University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill and said that as an activist, he has a “lack of sympathy” for police officers who are killed.
Through his attorney, David Lane, Spagnuolo said the investigation begun by the city April 1 was bogus and done in retaliation for his First Amendment protected speech.
While elements of the investigation are “arguably unreasonable,” Figa said, Spagnuolo was not challenging its scope. Testimony in the hearing included details of Longmont’s questioning of Spagnuolo’s co-workers about his use of vacation time to travel to national protests.
Also, the judge noted, the city has not yet taken any disciplinary actions against the plaintiff.
“It’s sad,” Spagnuolo said of his reaction to the decision. “I was hoping my government would protect me. Instead, my government told me I have the courage to protect myself.”
Lane, his attorney, said any plaintiff asking for a temporary restraining order has a heavy burden.
Still, Lane said, “I disagree with the court. I think a retaliatory investigation is an adverse employment action.”
Longmont officials declined to comment. City spokesman Rigo Leal said late Friday that the investigation against Spagnuolo will continue.
During the hearing, Longmont supervisor Karen Roney said she was aware that Spagnuolo was allowed to use his city-issued phone for personal calls as long as he reimbursed the city for them and that he had been off-duty when he placed the call.
Her concern, Roney said, was that Spagnuolo had negatively affected the city’s relationship with the Police Department, although the chief of police had assured the city that he had not.
The last part of the investigation, she said, was to find out whether Spagnuolo had attended a March 3 Churchill speech on city time, yet as of Friday’s hearing, city officials had not yet determined the location, time or duration of the speech.
Staff writer Amy Herdy can be reached at 303-820-1752 or aherdy@denverpost.com.
