by cactuspete » Mon Dec 20, 2021 11:39 am
The most obvious comparison that could be made would be a real-life (as opposed to online) example. Let's say someone participates in an anti-abortion (aka, right to life) rally and let's say this person carries a sign which reads, "Abortion is murder!" Let's say that the employer is pro-abortion (aka, pro-choice) and is offended by the fact that an employee expressed a strong anti-abortion opinion in public. Does the employer have the right to fire the employee?
How is this any different from someone expressing an opinion on a controversial topic online? There are lots of controversial topics people might express an opinion about: immigration, gun rights, abortion, the death penalty, racial issues, false allegations of rape, sexual orientation issues, etc. There is no end to the number of people who are eager to be offended by just about any strong opinion someone might express in public or online. On top of that, what is public is likely to wind up online. If a person participated in an anti-abortion march, there's a good chance that that person's picture will be posted somewhere by someone and if the person is carrying a sign, then whatever it says will be there for all to see.
Which brings up an interesting question: What about if someone photoshops the sign so that it says something different than what it actually said in the first place? What if it becomes a meme of some kind? What are the employer's rights then?
All this points to one commonsense conclusion: Employers should not have the right to fire someone because of an opinion they express online or elsewhere!