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Old February 7, 2009, 10:34 PM   #24
BillCA
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 28, 2004
Location: Silicon Valley, Ca
Posts: 7,117
Quote:
Were does an employer have the right to engage in a job sanction for legally expressing yourself in a manner not related to the employer? If you got on the tube and said your company stinks and don't go there - I could see that.
Not quite the same in a lot of states. Most teachers are employed under the terms of some "labor contract" negotiated by a teacher's union. In many states, your employment is "at will" and there is no legal contract or binding agreement. As such, if you work for a company and for some reason appear "in public" in a manner which could or does embarass the company, your job is toast. If you did commercials for Ford claiming that you're a "proud Ford owner" but your Facebook page shows you driving a BMW or (perhaps worse) displaying your "pride & joy" is a 2007 Corvette, you could expect Ford to fire you.

Today, when you're seeking a job, many companies will simply "Google" your name to see what pops up and if it is related to you. And they use various forms of your name too (e.g. Searching Elizabeth, Liz, Betty, Beth, etc.). If you've posted anything to the web (with your real name) it might come back to haunt you.

At what point it becomes censorship or infringing on your 1st Amendment rights is debateable. I don't think many parents would be accepting of a teacher who's Facebook page shows her in wet T-shirt contests or moonlighting as a stripper. And just because you have "free speech" does not mean you're immune from the consequences of that right.
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