Decided June 10, 1968
The facts of this case occurred before Garrity, but the case was decided after Garrity.
Gardner was a police officer in New York, who was being investigated by a grand jury for bribery, corruption, and illegal gambling. He was advised of his right against self incrimination, but asked to sign a waiver of that right. He refused.
At the time, New York had a policy in their charter which said that any city employee would be fired if they pled the fifth to work-related questions in court. Gardner was fired for his refusal to waive his rights, and he sued the city for reinstatement and back pay. He lost, but he appealed.
The US Supreme Court held that if Gardner could have legally been fired if he had refused to answer questions about the discharge of his duties without being asked to waive his rights. But that's not what happened; Gardner wasn't fired for not telling his boss what he did, Gardner was fired for not waiving his rights in a pending criminal prosecution. The lower courts' decision was reversed.
And so now, whenever we go to IA, we are informed that we will be fired if we refuse to answer questions, but that our answers can not be used against us in a criminal case- they're just used to determine what our future employment status will be.
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