What can employees do to protect their free speech rights in the work place?
First of all, understand that your free speech rights may well be more limited than you think. The First Amendment is not a grand overarching organizing principle that applies everywhere we live. Constitutional law may be a bit out of touch with the fact that we live our lives under the control of a lot of large, private institutions. The second step is understanding that mileage varies widely from employer to employer. If you are a free speaker at work, try to be an anthropological one. That is, try to understand the real underlying free or not-so-free speech culture of your organization. That’s not often going to be found in policy manuals or personnel manuals. And finally, more practically, lobby your state lawmakers for better laws. If you don’t live in one of the four states that have protection against lifestyle discrimination in employment, demand that protection. It’s long overdue for the 46 states that don’t have it.
