Free Speech, First Amendment | JD Supra Law News

D.C. Circuit Vacates NLRB Poster Rule

by Daniel V. Johns, Kelly Kindig | Ballard Spahr LLP on 5/9/2013

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has vacated a controversial rule issued by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that would have required most private sector employers covered by the...more

NLRB Poster Rule Torn Down by the D.C. Circuit

by Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell &... on 5/9/2013

In August 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) attempted to implement a rule requiring every employer in the United States to post a "notice" of union organizing rights. After an almost two-year battle, the courts...more

D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Strikes Down NLRB’s Poster Rule

by John Elliott III, Jennifer W. Terry | Miller & Martin PLLC on 5/9/2013

Yesterday, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rule requiring employers to post notices regarding employees’ right to unionize was invalid. ...more

Legal Alert: Federal Appeals Court Strikes NLRB's Notice Posting Rule

by FordHarrison on 5/9/2013

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated the National Labor Relations Board's rule requiring employers to post a Notice of Employee Rights under the NLRA because it violates employers' free speech rights. ...more

D.C. Circuit Court Vacates the NLRB's Notice Posting Rule

by Duane Morris LLP on 5/9/2013

On May 7, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held in National Association of Manufacturers, et al. v. National Labor Relations Board, et al., No. 12-5068, that the National Labor Relations...more

Appeals Court Holds Board's Notice Rule Inconsistent With Employer Free Speech

by Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP on 5/9/2013

The saga of the National Labor Relations Board’s (“Board”) Notice posting rule continues. If you recall from our prior Alerts, in 2011 the Board issued a Rule mandating the posting of an 11” x 17” Notice in virtually every...more

Order Restricting Informal Discovery Infringes on Litigant’s Right to Free Speech

by Jason H. Baruch | Trenam Kemker on 4/1/2013

In this medical business dispute between a buyer and sellers of surgical centers, the trial court entered an order precluding the sellers from communicating with any third party, including those in other countries, about the...more

Two New Developments in First Amendment Challenges to Off-Label Promotion: What's Next?

by King & Spalding on 3/14/2013

Following the Second Circuit’s marquee First Amendment ruling in the Caronia case, two recent developments demonstrate a shift in the battleground for First Amendment challenges to the prohibition on off-label promotion under...more

Ninth Circuit Affirms Conviction in Harkonen, Rejects the Defendant’s “Off-Label” First Amendment Challenge

by Vernon Francis, Thomas Lee | Dechert LLP on 3/13/2013

On March 4, 2013, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its opinion in United States v. Harkonen,1 a case in which the CEO of a pharmaceutical company was prosecuted for transmitting...more

District Court Finds First Amendment Does Not Protect Former Guidance Counselor’s Sexually-Explicit Book

by Kendra Berner | Franczek Radelet P.C. on 3/12/2013

The Northern District Court of Illinois found that Rich Township High School District 227 did not violate the free speech rights of former guidance counselor and girls’ basketball coach Bryan Craig when it dismissed him based...more

Breast Cancer Awareness Bracelets And The First Amendment – Revisited

by Cynthia A. Augello | Cullen and Dykman LLP on 3/7/2013

In February 2012 we discussed the turmoil that had erupted at schools across the country as students donned breast cancer awareness bracelets with the slogan “I (Heart) Boobies”. The bracelets were quickly banned after school...more

Teacher’s Comments About The First Lady Land Him In Hot Water

by Cynthia A. Augello | Cullen and Dykman LLP on 2/28/2013

Bob Grisham, an Alabama high school teacher, has been suspended for 10 days without pay as a result of making comments referencing the first lady’s posterior. Grisham’s remarks including referring to the first lady as “fat...more

#Edchat Followup: Legal Issues For BYOD And 1:1 Programs In Schools

by Jackie Wernz | Franczek Radelet P.C. on 2/12/2013

Each Tuesday the #Edchat hashtag brings together educators from across the globe to discuss education-related topics on Twitter. Last week one of the questions on #Edchat was “How do we train educators to teach in programs...more

Religious Institutions Update: February 2013

by Nathan A. Adams IV, Laura Atherstone | Holland & Knight LLP on 2/8/2013

Last February, at the request of Senate Finance Committee member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the Commission on Accountability and Policy for Religious Organizations was formed to address tax-related policy questions of import...more

California Supreme Court Rules Unions May Picket On Private Property

by Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 2/1/2013

Ralphs Grocery Company v. United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 8, S185544 (December 27, 2012): The California Supreme Court recently held that although a supermarket’s privately owned entrance area is not a public...more

Second Circuit Vacates Pharmaceutical Misbranding Conviction on Free Speech Grounds

by John L. Brownlee, William F. Gould, Timothy J. Taylor | Holland & Knight LLP on 2/1/2013

After two years of deliberation, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals has finally issued its decision in United States v. Caronia, holding that the government cannot prosecute pharmaceutical manufacturers or their...more

Firing Employees For Their Social Media Content – First, Stop And Think [Audio]

by Travis Crabtree | Looper Reed & McGraw, P.C. on 1/29/2013

Much has been written about whether you can fire someone for what they put on Facebook. Your gut reaction may be that surely if someone talks bad about the company, you can fire them. The National Relations Labor Board...more

New Jersey District Dismisses Teacher Who Called Students “Future Criminals” On Facebook

by Jackie Wernz | Franczek Radelet P.C. on 1/22/2013

Earlier this month, a New Jersey appellate court affirmed the dismissal of a tenured teacher for comments she made about her students on Facebook. Good summaries of the case, In re O’Brien, can be found through the National...more

California Supreme Court Approves Union Picketing in Front of Store Entrances

by Tracey Fagelbaum | Proskauer - California Employment Law on 1/22/2013

Ralphs Grocery sought an injunction to prevent a labor union from picketing on the privately owned walkway in front of the only customer entrance to its store....more

'Dyed' In The Wool Conservative? The 6th Circuit Weighs In On Political-Affiliation Retaliation Claims

by Marta Moakley | XpertHR - Partnered with LexisNexis on 1/17/2013

In Dye v. Office of the Racing Comm'n, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that individuals alleging retaliation because of their political affiliation need not show that they were actually affiliated with the...more

Elvis Presley Song Lyrics Causing Trouble In 2013?

by Cynthia A. Augello | Cullen and Dykman LLP on 1/16/2013

Elvis Presley certainly stirred up controversy in the 1950s but who would have thought that his songs would create an uproar in 2013. A Utah school district nearly canceled a production of “All Shook Up” after finding that...more

Disciplining Student Speech As A Threat After Newtown – The Right Choice?

by Jackie Wernz | Franczek Radelet P.C. on 1/15/2013

The media coverage of the Sandy Hook school shooting is tapering down, but the lessons for school administrators in its wake are just beginning. One such lesson comes after a California school suspended a high school senior...more

Political Affiliation & Protected Speech Retaliation – Sixth Circuit Widens Circuit Split

by Michael Graham, Steven J. Pearlman | Proskauer - Whistleblowing & Retaliation on 1/15/2013

The Sixth Circuit recently held that Michigan state employees could base First Amendment political-affiliation and protected-speech retaliation claims on their perceived political affiliations, even absent actual affiliations...more

California High Court Issues Important Ruling on Labor Speech Rights of Unions on Private Property

by Linda Auerbach Allderdice | Holland & Knight LLP on 1/15/2013

The California Supreme Court recently issued its decision in Ralphs Grocery Company v. United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 8. Although the ruling resolved a long-standing dispute between a supermarket owner and the...more

Public School Teachers, Free Speech, and Hostile Environment

by Theresa Lynn Sidebotham on 1/14/2013

In public school, the constitutional tension can be high on these issues: students' and teachers' free speech rights; teachers' Free Exercise rights; the school's concern for the Establishment clause; when bullying begins;...more

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Free Speech › First Amendment