On August 22, 2013, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, in a unanimous en banc decision (11-0), held, in Dahlia v. Rodriguez, that officers may have First Amendment protection against employer retaliation when speaking out about alleged department misconduct and corruption.

The en banc panel overruled earlier decisions by a district court judge and a three-judge panel ruling that City of Burbank, California, detective Angelo Dahlia’s disclosure of officer misconduct was not protected by the First Amendment. The three-judge panel held that “Dahlia’s disclosure to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) of his fellow officers’ misconduct was not subject to First Amendment protection because he had a professional duty, as a matter of California case law, to report misconduct. The district court also held that Dahlia’s placement on administrative leave did not constitute an ‘adverse employment action.'”