The murder of Charlie Kirk highlighted the deep political divisions in the US. Some reactionary posts on social media have even prompted some companies to fire employees. While employers can create social media policies, they should consider how they’re applying those rules, one lawyer cautioned.
Firing employees over their conduct on social media isn’t anything new, and is often legal in the US. Workers have lost their jobs for posting racist and otherwise discriminatory content, as well as political content. In recent years, some employees have seen job offers rescinded and contracts ended shortly after posting about Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel or the murder of George Floyd.
What might be new, however, is the government’s involvement, Axios reported.
Some officials have encouraged employers to terminate workers who are critical of Kirk or allegedly celebrated his death on social media. Attorney General Pam Bondi said that employers have “an obligation” to terminate workers that say “horrible things,” while Vice President JD Vance encouraged people to report incendiary posts about Kirk to employers. “We don’t believe in political violence, but we do believe in civility,” he said last week while hosting Kirk’s podcast.
The federal government fired several employees in the week following Kirk’s death, and American Airlines and Delta Air Lines also terminated employees, adding to the dozens of private employers that have taken disciplinary action against employees over their remarks.
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Employers are again in a difficult position and need to consider whether employees’ social media posts could harm their business at large, Alice Jump, partner at law firm Reavis Page Jump, told HR Brew.
“People have the mistaken impression that everything is protected by the First Amendment, but employers are not government,” she said, noting that employers have the right to fire workers for their speech, with some exceptions (like when it violates discrimination laws or specific state statutes). “Oftentimes, employers will react to the moment and take action against employees who pose what they think is inappropriate.”
Jump told HR Brew that many employers have social media policies that stipulate that workers cannot post content that violates their anti-discrimination or harassment policies, adding that they may want to remind employees of their policies as a risk prevention measure.
However, employers should refrain from suppressing workers’ views and be consistent in their enforcement of social media policies.
“If they [employers] go ballistic and fire people for talking about Kirk…and then, they don’t take the same action for something that shows another point of view, they’re giving rise to discrimination claims,” she said. “Applying it [social media policy] consistently across all political spectrums and all types of activism will reduce the risk to the employer.”