While negotiating a new contract, the dispatchers picketed the sheriff’s office to draw attention to their pay, according to arguments the plaintiffs filed with the court.

Fischer wrote that this was an example of constitutionally protected speech by public employees. The dispatchers didn’t strike, walk off the job or request that people boycott the sheriff’s office. The picketing was done on the dispatchers’ own time, he wrote.

“The picket was also openly aided by officers in the office, who came outside to bring the protesters coffee,” Fischer wrote.

The decision doesn’t change restrictions on public employees’ right to strike, though. The 2018 law requires that labor agreements forbid public sector employees from striking. Fischer’s decision notes that this is “well-settled doctrine” in Missouri, citing a 2007 ruling as precedent.