In today’s super-charged political environment, employers continue to consider whether they can or should restrict employee political or social advocacy at work. From abortion to gun control to civil rights, hot-button political and social issues are routinely finding their way into American workplaces. Some employers have become so concerned by the discord that they are banning all political speech in the workplace because they believe it will help maintain peace among employees. The recent reversal of Roe v. Wade is the latest event to prompt a passionate public reaction, on both sides of the issue.
This implicates an important legal question: To what degree can—or should—private employers lawfully restrict political and social speech in the workplace? Public employers’ ability to restrict speech is limited by the First Amendment, a complex topic that I will not address here except to say that the First Amendment’s protections do not extend to employees of non-government employers. And regardless of the legal rules, is restricting expression at work a good business decision?
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