Is this a violation of free speech?

[Bob Stepp]

Some school districts and businesses are prohibiting their employees from from making any remarks or associating themselves with the district or business on social net works such as Face Book, Twitter, etc...

Should they have that power???

[Dallas]

PA is correct. Many people are surprised to learn this, but the Bill of RIghts does not address the employer/employee relationship.

While it is true that employers are forbidden from treating employees differently on the basis of certain chararacteristics: age, sex, religion, creed and a few others, the rest - including speech not intrinsic to the foregoing qualities - is fair game.

This is why people are routinely fired when sordid details of their private life become public knowledge. I darned sure have a right to fire anyone whose conduct I believe reflects poorly on my company, subject to the limitations imposed by laws dealing with the "protected classes" of people mentioned above.

If someone doesn't like that, let them put their time, money and talent into their own company.

[Bob Stepp]

Employers routinely discriminate on the basis of every one of those characteristics mentioned above, especially age. They can't come right out and ask your age but they can ask what year you graduated high school...and there you are..bingo ....easy to figure from there
i can understand if an employee's private life is really sordid, but what i think is totally unfair is firing some one just because he makes a statement the boss doesn't agree with...and I've seen that done.
Oh, and I do understand what the Bill of Rights says...

[Dallas]

Relax, Bob, I don't doubt your grasp of all things Constitutional.

As for those who violate anti-discrimination laws, so what? People steal cars every day too. That doesn't mean we don't prosecute car thieves when we catch them.

If it were illegal to ask someone their age (it isn't; it's just illegal to use it against them in most cases), no transparent tactic like asking when they graduated from high school would be a defense.

A lot of people agree with your statement about the unfairness of being fired because you disagree with your boss on a non-work issue. However, fairness is not legality.

I have seen otherwise competent people flounder in their careers because they annoyed their boss. I'm not talking about smacking gum loudly. I'm talking about things you and I might consider OK, like going to a Parliament Funkadelic concert in 1979 or a woman wearing a low-cut blouse in a nightclub. I am particularly in favor of the latter behavior.

I have a cousin who is stone-cold beautiful - she made over $180,000/year for four years as a model from age 18-22. She faced more than her share of problems because of those years on her resume, and she graduated from college with a 3.4 GPA in Finance! There's no law against not hiring people because they are too pretty. She finally hit her stride with an artist's management firm years later. Fair? Of course not. Legal? Yep.

If you are risking your own money or career on decisions, you have a right to make them as you see fit, subject to law. Anybody who can't see that hasn't worked 65-hour weeks at their own business.

[WS]

Nice post - well said.

[Bull]

jacquin, didn't know you were such a suck up, is he on here?

[Aggie]

I guess I am in trouble.

[darroll]

You should be loyal to your company even though they have some idiot people running the show.
Badmouthing them publically is not the answer and they will make your life miserable.
If I didn’t like my company I would seek a job elsewhere.
In these times you might have to grin and bear it.

[stillgoing]

In California I'm an "at will employee" which basically means either party can terminate the relationship at any time. If they piss me off or I piss them off we could part company. I don't see a problem as I do rather enjoy a consistency of paychecks.

[Jaylee53]

I was an "at will employee".....they just beat me to the punch.

[CWO3ROBBIE]

I have read this thread, and given it some thought. First, I do not see this an infringement of our right to free speech. You can post what ever you want. Can your employer stop you? No! Of course if you are using a company computer the employer can stop you by firing you and taking away the computer you are using. But then you can go home or to the library and post whatever you want. As long as you don't cross the legal lines defining libel, there is nothing legally that he can do. If he gives you a choice, don't identify your association with the company in any post that you make, or terminate employment. You do not have to refrain from doing it if you want.

[stillgoing]

I'm posting all the nasty stuff under Robbie's login.