Wabaunsee County Board of County Commissioners Kansas v. Umbehr

The Court's decision in Umbehr extended the First Amendment protection enjoyed by government employees to independent contractors providing services to state and local governments. In addition to increased use of independent contractors by government, today's changed economic climate has caused many people to lose their jobs due to "downsizing" and become self-employed, at least in the strictly legal sense, by necessity rather than choice In a Kansas Law Review article, Brian Jacobs proposed extension of this protection to these contingent workers as well, who often perform the same jobs in the same environment as they did when employees. It is likely that Umbehr will be cited in cases involving dismissals of self-employed independent contractors of this type.