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Free Speech Hiring & Firing First Amendment

McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC

Federal Court Allows Ex-Teacher’s First Amendment Claim to Proceed to Trial

A jury will consider a former teacher’s (Mr. Moorehead) First Amendment claim against his former employer, a Pennsylvania School District (the “District”). The claim arose from Mr. Moorehead’s attendance at the “Stop the...more

McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC

Policing Social Media Posts – PA Appellate Court Prohibits Reinstatement of Kutztown University Police Officer

May 28, 2024Publications On May 1, 2024, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court vacated an arbitration award involving the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Officers Association (“Association”) and a former...more

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

Court Rules That Inflammatory Social Media Posts by a Public Employee Are Not Protected by the First Amendment

Vallecorsa v. Allegheny Cty., No. 2:19-CV-1495-NR, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 206720, at *2 (W.D. Pa. Nov. 15, 2022). United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania holds that Allegheny County (“County”) did...more

Fisher Phillips

SCOTUS Review: 8 Key Rulings from Last Term that Impact the Workplace and 3 Issues We’re Watching

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Many employers looked to the Supreme Court last term for clarity in cases with a significant impact on the workplace. The justices continued to shape the employment law landscape by ruling on an array of issues involving...more

Genova Burns LLC

Digital Walls Surrounding Speech on Social Media Crumble: NJ Appellate Division Upholds Employee Termination for Racist Facebook...

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On May 20, 2022, in McVey v AtlantiCare Medical System, the New Jersey Appellate Division Panel affirmed the dismissal of an employee’s case holding that her termination was not in violation of the protections afforded to...more

Gray Reed

Falling Off the Fence: Can You Fire Those with Different Viewpoints?

Gray Reed on

Ernest “Big Daddy” Bux’s daughter Kathy “Kitten” was working for Approval Literary Agency in Blessing, Texas – that is until last month. Kitten, an associate literary agent with Approval Literary was sacked after her boss...more

Littler

Ontario, Canada Court Denies Employer’s Request to Remove Allegedly Defamatory Social Media Posts Pending Defamation Trial

Littler on

A recent Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision indicates that it is challenging for employers to obtain an interim injunction requiring an employee to remove allegedly defamatory social media posts pending resolution of...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Can Employers Fire Rioters? Employers’ Rights in Policing Employee Off-Duty Conduct and Employment Law Consequences of the Capitol...

Within days of the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, employees who were observed as part of the mob entering the Capitol were discharged by their employers. Some of the individuals involved in the events at the...more

McGlinchey Stafford

Political and Controversial Activity in the Workplace [More with McGlinchey Ep. 11]

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Election season is in full swing and the climate is certainly charged. In this episode of “More with McGlinchey,” Labor and Employment attorneys Mag Bickford, Rasch Brown, Camille Bryant, and Kathy Conklin discuss employees’...more

Proskauer - California Employment Law

Dark Day For Hollywood – Law Prohibiting Online Publication Of Actors’ Ages Is Struck Down

IMDb.com Inc. v. Becerra, 962 F.3d 1111 (9th Cir. 2020) - The Ninth Circuit has affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of IMDb.com, a website that lists, among other things, the actual ages of...more

Cozen O'Connor

Third Circuit Upholds Philadelphia Wage History Ordinance

Cozen O'Connor on

On February 6, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld a City of Philadelphia ordinance that prohibits employers from inquiring after and/or relying upon a prospective employee’s wage history in any...more

Epstein Becker & Green

California Freelance Writers and Photographers Challenge the Constitutionality of AB 5

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We have written previously about California’s new statute, referred to as AB 5, which codifies and expands the “ABC test” for independent contractors set forth in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court....more

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Electioneering at the Water Cooler: Protections and Pitfalls of Politics in the Workplace

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With the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election less than a year away, political conversations and activities are seeping into almost every aspect of daily life—even the workplace. While discussions on the topic can be harmless,...more

FordHarrison

How the Misconception of ‘Free Speech’ in the Workplace Persists through High-Profile Examples of Social Consciousness

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With the NBA season set to begin this month, so many eagerly anticipated storylines are being discussed. Would the Clippers and Lakers live up to expectations and make Los Angeles the place to be this season? How are teams...more

Butler Snow LLP

Nashville Trump Supporter Fired Over Facebook Post Wins Trial

Butler Snow LLP on

Government employees enjoy more protection than employees of private-sector companies when it comes to speaking their minds about politics or other matters of public concern outside the workplace. A public employee may not be...more

Franczek P.C.

Supreme Court Justices Criticize School’s Discipline of Football Coach for Prayer During Game

Franczek P.C. on

The Supreme Court recently declined to hear a case involving a public school district that fired its football coach for kneeling and praying on the football field after games. ...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

City Can’t Restrain Employee’s Critical Comments - Ninth Circuit Holds It Is OK to Speak on Matters of Public Concern as a Private...

A city employee’s comments at a public event were not protected under the First Amendment because she spoke as a public employee, not a private citizen, a federal appeals court held in Barone v. City of Springfield. However,...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Religious Institutions Update: June 2018 - Lex Est Sanctio Sancta

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Since 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court has expressly construed a neutral law of general applicability as consistent with the free exercise clause. Deeming Colorado's public accommodations law just such a law, the Colorado Court...more

Zuckerman Spaeder LLP

Can You Fire Someone For Racist Tweets?

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On May 29, Roseanne Barr posted a tweet comparing former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett to an ape. ABC’s reaction was swift and decisive: it fired Barr and cancelled her show. ABC’s decision led to pontification from...more

Fisher Phillips

Can A University Terminate For Tenured Teacher’s Twitter Tweaks?

Fisher Phillips on

A series of Twitter posts from a tenured Fresno State English professor about former First Lady Barbara Bush has once again sparked a national conversation about how the First Amendment applies in the university setting, and...more

Fisher Phillips

You Can Ask About It, But You Can’t Rely Upon It: Finally, a Resolution to the Constitutionality of Philadelphia’s Wage Equity...

Fisher Phillips on

According to the late great Tom Petty, “the waiting is the hardest part.” The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (the “Court”), however, begs to differ with The Heartbreakers’ leading man....more

Troutman Pepper

Portion of Philadelphia Salary History Ban Ruled Unconstitutional

Troutman Pepper on

In a ruling that could provide a roadmap for challenging salary history bans in other jurisdictions, a Philadelphia federal judge issued an opinion on April 30 invalidating a major element of the Philadelphia salary history...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

New Lawsuit Claims First Amendment Protections for Political Speech for Employee of Private Sector Company

Every lawyer learns in their first year of law school’s Constitutional Law class that the First Amendment does not shield people from the consequences of their statements. Free speech guarantees only prohibit the government...more

Proskauer - California Employment Law

Dark Day For Hollywood – Law Prohibiting Online Publication Of Actors’ Ages Is Unconstitutional!

A federal court has struck down as unconstitutional a California law (AB 1687) that prohibits commercial online services from publishing actors’ ages without their consent. The law, which the California legislature enacted in...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Flipping Out Over Flipping Off: What Are the Limits on Regulating Employee Political Speech?

Around the end of October, a photo of a government contractor employee flipping the bird to President Trump’s motorcade went viral after the woman made it her profile picture on Facebook. She was subsequently fired for a...more

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