 In Pappas v. Giuliani ( 2002 ) , Sotomayor dissented from her colleagues ' ruling that the New York Police Department could terminate from his desk job an employee who sent racist materials through the mail . Sotomayor argued that the First Amendment protected speech by the employee " away from the office , on [ his ] own time " , even if that speech was " offensive , hateful , and insulting " , and that therefore the employee 's First Amendment claim should have gone to trial rather than being dismissed on summary judgment . 
