It is legal in every state. Why is it an issue for you?
You're a lawyer, and I'm not, and you specialize in this area of the law, while I certainly don't. But I'm not sure that the legality of firing an employee for something like this is as unquestionable as you've suggested. A very quick internet check ( I know. I know, OK?) says this:
Despite this relativity, most states agree that the following reasons for termination would violate public policy and would therefore be illegal: - terminating an employee for refusing to commit an illegal act (such as refusing to falsify insurance claims or lie to government auditors)
- terminating an employee for complaining about an employer's illegal conduct (such as the employer's failure to pay minimum wage), and
- terminating an employee for exercising a legal right (such as voting or taking family leave).
Regardless, I'm not arguing with you over the law. You might be perfectly correct about that, and if these two idiots get fired over their idiotic photo, they might very well lose the lawsuit they will almost certainly initiate. I don't know.
But I don't know why you think that if an activity- in this case, firing someone for exercising their right to speech- is legal, I should have no problem with it. There are lots of reprehensible activities that are nevertheless legal. In some such cases, I think the law should be changed. In other cases, I think the reprehensible behavior should remain legal- but the behavior is still reprehensible.
Employee is wearing a Company t-shirt during a KKK rally. Is hooting and hollering in front on a burning cross. Video makes it on Youtube and goes viral. Suddenly, Company is being boycotted. In your world, it would be wrong for Company to fire the employee? I would say that it depends. Is it a t-shirt that anyone might wear, owned by the employee? Or is it part of an official uniform that employee wears at work? If the latter, I think the employer has legitimate cause to fire the employee, for the simple reason that by wearing the company uniform, the employee has effectively presented himself as a representative of the company. If the former, not so much.
In your world, the Company has no recourse? Really? Yeah, very likely the company should have no recourse. Really. Why should it? Let's say the employee at the KKK rally is not wearing a uniform shirt, but just a plain old t-shirt with his employer's logo on it, like any other Joe Schmo might wear. Or let's say he isn't wearing a company shirt, or if he is, you can't see it under his Klan sheet. The company should be able to fire him for his personal beliefs, expressed in accordance with his Constitutional guarantee to be able to do so, outside of work?
regarding the business trip -- the employer is paying for that trip. So, in your world, the employer has no control over anything that happens outside of working hours? Not really, no. The employer isn't paying to control anything outside of working hours, so I don't really see why an employee should hand over control of his free time for nothing- let alone give up the exercise of his American freedoms.
I'm an hourly employee. Occasionally my company sends me out of town, maybe for training, maybe to lend a hand in another market. They pay for the trip- the plane ticket, the hotel, and so on, because they need me to be there for some reason. They pay me my hourly rate while I'm in training to acquire the skills necessary to perform my job, or while I'm actually working. They don't continue to pay me while I'm out of town, away from my home and family, after the work day is done. That means I'm off the clock. I'm a private citizen. The company isn't paying me to be a company representative 24/7.
People are hired to do a job. They are paid to do that job. That is, they receive a paycheck in exchange for their labor. They don't sell themselves into indentured servitude, they are not generally hired to be spokesmen for their company every minute of their lives, they aren't paid to suspend their Constitutional rights. We are talking about persons and citizens who have jobs, not mindless labor units that function as company automatons for the duration of their employment.
What if my employer fires me because I oppose same sex marriage, and have contributed money to lobby against it? You're OK with that? What if my employer fires me because he discovers I legally own firearms? You're OK with that? What if my employer fires me because someone tells him I drink on the weekends, and my employer is a teetotaler. You're OK with that?
"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."
