Anti-Mask Bank Worker Based in School Gets Speech Suit Revived

A Minnesota bank, a vice president, and the superintendent of a school that housed a bank branch must face retaliation claims by a bank employee fired after speaking out against Covid-19 masks in schools.

The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Monday unanimously revived Tara McNeally’s free-speech claims against HomeTown Bank, bank executive Lindsey Puffer, and Shakopee Public Schools superintendent Michael Redmond. But the three-judge panel divided over whether the allegations against Redmond were properly analyzed under the test traditionally used in First Amendment cases to balance a public employee’s speech interests against a public employer’s interest in ...