A recent flap over the Cleveland Indians' firing of a ballpark usher has free speech advocates crying foul. The usher alleges that he was âlet goâ? because he didnât follow instructions to wear a sticker endorsing renewal of the county âsin tax.â? The Indians deny that his dismissal had anything to do with their campaign in support of the tax, but it's still brought back a question: Can employers force workers to support a particular candidate or cause? In the final weeks leading up to the 2012 presidential election, Republican challenger Mitt Romney accused the Obama Administration of waging a âwar on coalâ?. Romney appeared in an attack ad, flanked by grimy, helmeted miners from Ohio coal company Murray Energy. In the ad, one of the miners said the presidentâs energy agenda threatened the industry. "I got two young grandsons, Iâm scared for their future, let alone mine, I support Mitt Romneyâ? he said. As it turns out, some of the miners used as the backdrop for the ad say they were pressured to attend the Romney rally. The Obama Campaign shot back, with an ad of their own âThey had to take the day off without pay,â? says the narrator. âThat they took a roll call, and they had a list of who was there and who wasnât. And felt they wouldnât have a job if they did not attend.â? A number of groups, including ProgressOhio, filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) against Murray Energy. They charged that the Ohio-based company made an illegal contribution to the Romney campaign by coercing the miners to attend the Romney event without pay. The company says the allegations are baseless. The FEC wonât comment. The matter is still pending. But is the issue all that complicated? If itâs true the miners were taken off the job to essentially cheer and pose with Romneyâand they werenât all Romney backersâdoesnât that violate their guaranteed Rights of Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Association? âThat happens all the time. People are very quick to think their constitutional rights are offended,â? says Joann Brant. Sheâs a law professor at Ohio Northern University.
If weâre dealing with private employees, they donâtâ have constitutional rights. By and large, people who work for private employers are what we call âemployees at willâ. They can resign for any reason, the employer can fire them for any reason. Public employees have much more significant constitutional rights.
So, if you work in the private sector and a boss mandates that âHillary Clinton in 2016â? t-shirts be worn in the office, they can do that regardless of your political preferences. Likewise, if your boss orders you to appear at a John Kasich campaign rally in the workplaceâ¦even though you are a Democrat--- they can do that. Camille Hebert who teaches at Ohio State Universityâs Moritz College of Lawâ¦agrees, that is the law. Still, she says, there are cases where private employees whoâve been fired have taken legal action. âYou could have the argument that discharging someone for their political beliefs - or their failure to adopt the employerâs political beliefs would be a violation of public policy,â? says Hebert. âBut generally those claims havenât been very successful in Ohio.â? There was an Ohio law that prevented employers from forcing workers to display or proclaim political endorsements, but it was repealed more than 40 years ago. As surprising as this form of employer coercion might be, itâs a predicament employees rarely find themselves in. And thereâs a good reason for that. As Russ Roberts, a Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, says â¦itâs bad for morale.
Most private employers donât take a political stance on anything, because they donât want to alienate customers and they donât want to alienate employees.