⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit hears argument in Johnson versus Miller, a dispute over whether a public utility manager was fired in retaliation for threatening to report wrongdoing to Mississippi's state auditor. Mark Johnson was the general manager of Clarksdale Public Utilities, which is governed by a five-member commission. Johnson claims he was terminated after he sent an email saying he would report alleged misconduct by commissioners to the state auditor's office. He brought two claims: one under the Mississippi Whistleblower Protection Act and one under the First Amendment. The commission and two individual commissioners argue that Johnson was fired for legitimate reasons unrelated to any protected speech. They say he purchased a telephone system that secretly recorded calls without proper authorization or notice, violated state purchasing rules, and attempted to interfere with the ensuing investigation. They also say those problems surfaced at a board meeting months before Johnson's auditor threat, so the threat could not have caused the termination. Johnson responds that the timing of his suspension, immediately after the threat, tells a different story. The core legal question is whether a reasonable jury could find that Johnson's threatened report was the but-for cause of his termination, or whether the employer's alternative reasons foreclose that claim as a matter of law.

Johnson v. Miller (No. 25-60576) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, argued August 6, 2026.