The government is not permitted to fire an employee based on the employee's speech if three criteria are met: 1) the speech addresses a matter of public concern; 2) the speech is not made pursuant to the employee's job duties, but rather the speech is made in the employee's capacity as a citizen;[53] and, 3) the damage inflicted on the government by the speech does not outweigh the value of the speech to the employee and the public.[54][55] Specifically, speech is "treated as a matter of public concern" by reference to the "content, form, and context of a given statement".[56] The exception with regards to balancing the harm of a statement and the value of the statement (the Pickering test) is done by considering the degree to which the speech either interferes with close working relationships, disrupts the office, or even has the potential to do either.[57]