A federal appeals court has upheld the firing of longtime Sacramento Kings announcer Grant Napear, ruling that his employer, Bonneville International Corp., was justified in terminating his employment over a "All Lives Matter" tweet. The tweet was posted in May 2020 during nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd.
Napear, who spent 31 years calling Kings games and also worked as a radio host for KTHK, responded to a question from former Kings player DeMarcus Cousins on Twitter (now X) about the Black Lives Matter movement. Napear tweeted, "ALL LIVES MATTER … EVERY SINGLE ONE!!!" The following day, Bonneville suspended Napear, and he was fired a day after that.
Napear sued, contending that his firing punished him for personal political expression unrelated to his professional duties. However, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco rejected this argument. The court's three-judge panel stated that Bonneville could take action to protect its public reputation, citing Napear's status as a public figure and clauses in his employment contract. The contract required him to maintain "a high standard of care and level of responsibility" on social media due to its potential impact on the company's "public image and reputation."
The judges concluded that Napear's tweet "involved his celebrity persona such that his statement fell within the scope of his professional capacity." They also noted that California law does not prevent employers from limiting employees' political expression when it affects the employer's public reputation.
Napear's attorney, Matthew Ruggles, disputed the court's findings, arguing that the tweet was a personal expression made on Napear's privately owned Twitter account, which had thousands of prior posts unrelated to his work. Ruggles stated that the issue should be decided by a jury. He indicated plans to seek a rehearing before the full appeals court and, if unsuccessful, to ask the Supreme Court to review the case.
The appeals court ruling affirmed a U.S. District Court decision that dismissed Napear's lawsuit without a trial. The judges who heard the appeal were appointed by President Donald Trump, while the district judge was appointed by former President Barack Obama.
This case is not the first instance of a sports broadcaster facing job repercussions for social media activity. Former major league pitcher Mike Bacsik was fired by a Dallas radio station in 2010 after a disparaging post about "Mexicans in San Antonio."
Following his dismissal by Bonneville, Napear spent five years podcasting before returning to radio in August, hosting a daily show on Fox Sports Radio in Sacramento. He had previously faced controversy for defending former LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling and for calling his former broadcast partner Doug Christie a "coward" after his own firing.