Season 2, Episode 4: Free Speech in the Workplace
From Lawyer to Employer: A Shipman Podcast
December 20, 2023
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Listen in as Thomas Mooney, our guest speaker, discusses free speech in the workplace with host Daniel Schwartz. This episode navigates the complexities of:
- Defining workplace free speech boundaries
- Examining balancing tests
- Exploring limits on protection
- Emphasizing the impact of circumstances
Join us for a straightforward exploration of this ever-relevant issue.
Dan Schwartz: Welcome back to another episode of From Lawyer to Employer, a Shipman and Goodwin podcast about employment law. I'm your host, Dan Schwartz and today we are going to be talking about free speech in the workplace. And I’m really happy to have with me today one of my partners, Tom Mooney, who has literally written a book about school law, which includes items such as free speech in the workplace and other related topics. So welcome, Tom.
So, Tom before we talk about free speech, I know you just finished up another edition of your book, right?
Tom Mooney: I did.
Dan Schwartz: And what are we up to now?
Tom Mooney: This is the Practical Guide to Connecticut School Law, and this is the 10th edition. The first edition was about half the size written 29 years ago.
Dan Schwartz: Congratulations on a 10th edition of the book. And listeners, if you haven't picked it up, if you're involved in the education area, it's certainly one of the go-to resources for schools here in Connecticut.
So let's switch gears. We could talk for the whole day about the book, but I want to talk today about one of the chapters in it, free speech. And then obviously I thought I'd bring you in because of what has been going on in the Middle East. We're seeing this issue really rise to the forefront on some school campuses and in workplaces generally. So, let's lay the groundwork here. Do public employees, for example, have free speech rights when it comes to the workplace?