Workplace Freedom of Speech

Workplace Freedom of Speech

Although employees don’t have a right to freedom of speech at the workplace constitutionally, employers need to know that there are federal and state laws in place that were enacted to protect employees when faced with certain issues at the workplace. For instance, according to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), employees have the freedom to concerted activity (Croucher et al, 2018). The provision protects employers in actions they engage in collectively with a mutual aim of making better or improving a situation. If an employee made remarks about his employer and his colleagues backed up the comments, such an employee is protected under concerted activity against any action that the employer could take against him.

According to Talk of the Nation podcast, three issues were under scrutiny. One case was about Keith Olbermann, an employee who was suspended from work for donating money to political rallies. At the New York Times, there are unions that set rules on when an employee can and cannot be punished. Employees are not allowed to make donations to political rallies, and that is why Keith Olberman was punished. In another case, a transit employee for New Jersey was fired for setting a Quran on fire. Under the ‘molarity clause,’ an employee can be fired for inappropriate behavior, and that’s what happened to the employee (Croucher et al 2018). And lastly, a woman in Connecticut was fired for putting up a post on Facebook, saying that she would equate her employer with a psychiatric patient. When the woman’s case was taken to the National Labor Relations Board, it was ruled that the employer was wrong to fire the woman citing that the woman was protected under grounds concerted activity. The body ruled that because the woman’s colleagues made comments on the post where they supported her claims. NLRA’s argument was that by the co-workers discussing the issue on the platform would be equivalent to them discussing at a union’s meeting.

According to the constitution, the First Amendment only covers the government sector, so the private sector employers are not covered (Croucher et al, 2018). Thus, when employers in the private sector can fire employees for petty reasons, those in the public sector cannot. However, there are specific reasons that employees can’t be fired for, such as religion, race, among others.

In my view, the judgment that was passed on Keith Olberman was in order because his action can be termed as irresponsibility on his part. He donated the money to the campaigns knowing very well it was against the company’s rules to do so. Also, the case of the employee who burnt the Quran was fairly judged because such kind of immorality could damage the image of the employer to outsiders. Although the NLRB ruled in support of the woman in the case of the Facebook post, I feel it was unfair to the employer because Facebook is a public platform accessible to a broad audience, and the act could damage the image of the employer.

Reference

Croucher, S., Zeng, C. & Rahmani, D. (2018). The relationship between organizational dissent and workplace freedom of speech: A cross-cultural analysis in Singapore. Journal of Management.