Feb 20 2024
Amanda DeMatteis: Hi, Josh.
Josh Goodbaum: Hi, Amanda. What are we talking about today?
DeMatteis: I thought we would talk about politics.
Goodbaum: Uh oh. That can cause some trouble, especially at work. So, what do you wanna say?
DeMatteis: It could cause trouble almost anywhere, but there’s a lot going on in the world and people wanna talk about it, right? Maybe it’s overturning Roe v. Wade. Maybe it’s what’s going on in Gaza. There’s just so much that people really care about, especially with an upcoming presidential election that has the country so divided. So, what if you talk about politics at work and maybe your boss doesn’t like it or a co-worker doesn’t like it? What rights do you have to express these opinions in the workplace?
Goodbaum: This is a great question, Amanda, because we have so much going on in our world today and we are so fortunate, as employees, to work in Connecticut because we have rights that lots of employees around the country don’t have.
For most employees around the country, they think of themselves as having First Amendment rights, but actually, as against their private employers – that is, their non-governmental employers – they probably have very few, if any rights. The First Amendment, remember, only applies as against the government. It doesn’t apply to your private employer. So, if your private employer in Florida, for example, wants to fire you for voting for Donald Trump or not voting for Donald Trump, you might be out of luck.
In Connecticut, though, that’s not the law. Because we have a statute called 31-51Q, and it says that an employer cannot discharge or discipline an employee on the basis of that employee’s exercise of certain constitutionally-protected rights, including the right to freedom of speech, unless that speech substantially or materially interferes with the employee’s performance of their bona fide job duties or the working relationship between the employee and the employer.
So, it might interfere if you’re talking about politics at work. But if you’re talking about politics on social media in your own time, or talking with friends and your employer learns about something that you privately believe or that you’re out on your town green advocating for on the weekends that has nothing to do with work, you almost certainly can’t be fired for or disciplined for that.
So, if you’re having a problem with your political beliefs not aligning with those beliefs of the company you work for or management in your company, it might be time to look up 31-51Q, and it might be time to talk with an employment lawyer because you do have rights in Connecticut.
DeMatteis: Great to know. It’s good to live in the Constitution State if you want to talk about politics at work. Thank you for watching, take care.
Posted by Garrison, Levin-Epstein, Fitzgerald & Pirrotti, P.C. in Commentary
Tagged Amanda DeMatteis, Joshua Goodbaum
