A few Sundays ago, Terry Bradshaw, the Hall of Fame quarterback, used his platform as the longtime co-host of the television program Fox NFL Sunday to address the growing controversy over some NFL players choosing to kneel during the playing of the national anthem, to protest racial injustice. Putting aside his usual jocular persona for a moment, he turned to the camera and sternly asked whether President Trump, who has exhorted NFL team owners to fire any “son of a bitch” who “disrespects our flag and county,” understands the First Amendment’s free speech protections. It’s a good question, and it leads directly to another one: If the President is violating the players’ civil rights, can they sue him?

The answers aren’t as simple as they might seem. While free speech rights are indeed at the center of this controversy, so are other factors – government speech rights, employer rights, labor contract language. What follows is a point-counterpoint discussion of all of these factors. The purpose is not to take sides in this debate but to bring clarity to it by casting light on the legal issues involved. Much of the legal information that follows is based on our blog called LABORDAYS.

Originally published in the New York State Bar Association Journal, November/December 2017, Vol. 89, No. 9.