matt_may t1_iro215h wrote on October 9, 2022 at 6:54 PM

Can a lawyer weigh in on this? Pretty sure it’s a 1st Amendment issue. Just being a member of a group don’t think can be used to fire someone. Case law on this go back to the Red scare of the 1950’s.

Not a defense of alt-right organizations, etc.

wherearemypaaants t1_irodpgx wrote on October 9, 2022 at 8:09 PM

Belonging to a hate group isn’t a political affiliation and therefore not a protected class. No one has a constitutional right to be a nazi and work a government job. You can be forced to pick one or the other.

matt_may t1_irolq68 wrote on October 9, 2022 at 9:04 PM

Private employers sure but government employees have a lot more rights when it comes to speech/employment. There is a whole body of cases on this dating back to the then Communist Party “hate group”

rainzer t1_irq5r2d wrote on October 10, 2022 at 4:47 AM

> but government employees have a lot more rights

Not sure where you came up with this one.

Let me quote Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes for you.

>“The petitioner (a police officer) may have a constitutional right to talk politics, but he has no constitutional right to be a policeman."

matt_may t1_irqair9 wrote on October 10, 2022 at 5:42 AM

There is a bunch of case law on this that makes it hard to fire government employees for not on the job political speech. The SCOTUS weighed in 2006, much later than Holmes, in the "Garcetti" Ruling. There’s a 3 part test. None of that exists for private employment