(WTAQ-WLUK) — Charlie Kirk’s assassination caused many Americans to post their reactions and comments on social media.
Two area teachers have received backlash for recent posts they made related to Kirk’s death. One in the Rosendale-Brandon School District was put on paid administrative leave last week, and an Oshkosh West teacher is receiving backlash as well, though no action has been taken there yet.
“Generally speaking, the First Amendment is not going to protect an employee from being fired for social media comments that he or she makes, if they are working for a private company,” said Brian Spahn, an attorney at Godfrey & Kahn, S.C., who works on free speech cases. “That’s because the First Amendment protects speech and prevents the government from taking action against an employee for something that he/she might say, either on social media or elsewhere.”
So, unless the employer discriminates based on a protected identity, the private employer can fire based on social media comments. In contrast, government employees face a different legal standard.
“If it’s related to race or gender or national origin or one of those other protected statuses, there may be something from that end,” said Ryan Thompson, senior HR consultant with Appleton Business Consulting.
“If you’re an employee in Wisconsin, you’re an employee at-will. That means that you can be fired for a good reason, a bad reason or no reason, as long as it’s not an illegal or discriminatory reason,” Thompson added.
On the flip side, the employee has the ability to take a new job and give a week’s notice, two weeks’ notice or no notice at all. And that’s the balance of at-will employment.
For a state employee, like a public school teacher — again, it is different, but they may still have restrictions.
“Then what you’re looking at is the actual terms of the contract,” said Thompson, who is also a former lawyer. “There could be moral turpitude type clause. There could be some kind of community unrest or outrage clause, but the school district and the teacher have the ability to negotiate the terms of the contract. The contract terms are often going to prevail.”
Moral of the story: you’re free to speak and not be jailed or face a fine, but you’re not necessarily free from any and all consequences.
“The First Amendment is generally not going to protect speech that is made on social media,” said Spahn. “So, if you are concerned about whether or not your employer is going to take issue with what you say on social media, I would proceed cautiously.”
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