{"id":1490319,"date":"2022-05-24T16:29:49","date_gmt":"2022-05-24T20:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1490319"},"modified":"2022-05-24T16:30:03","modified_gmt":"2022-05-24T20:30:03","slug":"woke-activists-in-the-workplace-are-sparking-a-surge-in-free-speech-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/woke-activists-in-the-workplace-are-sparking-a-surge-in-free-speech-cases\/","title":{"rendered":"Woke Activists In The Workplace Are Sparking A Surge In Free Speech Cases"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwoke-activists-in-the-workplace-are-sparking-a-surge-in-free-speech-cases%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1490319&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Workplace activism has caused a surge in free speech litigation over the past few years as employees have been fired or disciplined for their political views, according to a public interest law firm.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u201cNormally, we get one workplace speech case every four years, and last year we got four in one year and we\u2019ve already got another two starting to launch this year,\u201d Terry Pell, president of the Center for Individual Rights, told The Daily Caller News Foundation.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Pell told TheDCNF that employers face pressure from outside activists and often end up implementing \u201cvery one-sided, politicized, speech policies.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A non-profit public interest law firm says that activism in the workplace has caused an explosion in free speech litigation across the country over the last two years, according to the organization\u2019s president.<\/p>\n<p>The Center for Individual Rights (CIR) is involved in six cases of employees being punished for expressing political views, Terry Pell, the group\u2019s president, told The Daily Caller News Foundation in an interview. The expressions in question usually came on employee\u2019s personal time and were often surfaced by \u201cactivist\u201d employees.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is very unusual,\u201d Pell told TheDCNF. \u201cNormally, we get one workplace speech case every four years, and last year we got four in one year and we\u2019ve already got another two starting to launch this year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In one CIR case, Greg Krehbiel, employee of Maryland marketing company BrightKey, was told when he was hired that activities and comments on his personal time, which included co-hosting a podcast, were none of the company\u2019s business, according to CIR\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cir-usa.org\/case\/krehbiel-v-brightkey\/\">website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>However, co-workers became aware of Krehbiel expressing what Pell described as \u201cstandard conservative critiques\u201d on diversity initiatives and hate crimes on his podcast, they claimed his opinions represented \u201cwhite privilege,\u201d demanded he be fired and staged a protest in which they walked off the job according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cir-usa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/krehbiel_v_brightkey_am-compl.pdf\">complaint<\/a> filed in federal court.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDespite its earlier promise to Plaintiff\u2026 BrightKey quickly acceded to the wishes of the objecting employees and fired Plaintiff,\u201d the complaint said, adding, \u201cBrightKey knew that the objecting employees were motivated by Plaintiff\u2019s race and political opinions in insisting that he be fired.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The federal district court ruled against Krehbiel, who is appealing the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. BrightKey did not respond to a request for comment from TheDCNF.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">We\u2019re fighting for people like Greg Krehbiel, who was fired by his employer for his political views.<\/p>\n<p>BrightKey violated anti-discrimination laws and we will not stop until justice is served!<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/vv2vQgtf5G\">https:\/\/t.co\/vv2vQgtf5G<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 CIR (@CIRights) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CIRights\/status\/1527695145897893889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 20, 2022<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Pell told TheDCNF that Krehbiel\u2019s firing reflected a trend where employers face pressure from outside political activists to adopt \u201cvery one-sided, politicized speech policies\u201d that could result in an employee losing their job over \u201csomething you said five years ago,\u201d Pell said, adding that employers go along because they fear \u201ca Twitter storm.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pell pointed to the recent example of Joshua Katz, a classics professor at Princeton University, who claimed that his criticism of anti-racism and failure to defend free speech was the real motive behind his <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/05\/24\/princeton-fire-terminate-tenure-professor-joshua-katz-investigation-relationship\/\">firing<\/a> over an alleged consensual relationship with an undergraduate student.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Princeton matter is mind boggling,\u201d Pell told TheDCNF, going on to say that the university set \u201ca terrible example that will only reinforce the feeling of private employers that speech is toxic and must be suppressed by any means necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In another CIR case, Salvatore Davi, a hearing officer in New York State\u2019s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, commented on a Facebook post in October 2015, saying that the \u201cwrong metrics\u201d were being used to judge the success of welfare programs, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cir-usa.org\/case\/davi-v-roberts\/\">according<\/a> to CIR\u2019s website. He was suspended for six months and transferred after his employer received an anonymous complaint about the posts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe really startling thing about this is that employees can get tagged for anything, they have no idea what they can say,\u201d Pell told TheDCNF.<\/p>\n<p>Before the complaint, Davi\u2019s \u201cperformance reviews were all satisfactory,\u201d and he was \u201cdescribed as an exemplary employee\u201d who \u201chad never been accused of bias in any of the thousands of individual appeals for which he had made recommendations\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cir-usa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/davi_v_roberts_cpl.pdf\">according<\/a> to a legal filing by CIR on his behalf.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDavi\u2019s comments are primarily political speech about the proper role of government, which is among the most highly protected speech in our constitutional order,\u201d United States District Judge Edward R. Korman wrote in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cir-usa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/davi_v_roberts_sj_order.pdf\">opinion<\/a> granting summary judgement in Davi\u2019s favor in March 2021. Davi and New York State\u2019s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance appealed the ruling to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.<\/p>\n<p>New York state\u2019s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">ICYMI: Remember the case of Norman Wang, who was removed from his position for writing an academic paper questioning the wisdom and efficacy of diversity programs?<\/p>\n<p>A judge just green-lit his lawsuit.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/H8BNz3U8W1\">https:\/\/t.co\/H8BNz3U8W1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 CIR (@CIRights) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CIRights\/status\/1518240342134435840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 24, 2022<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In a March 2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/scri.siena.edu\/2022\/03\/21\/84-say-americans-being-afraid-to-exercisefreedom-of-speech-is-a-serious-problem\/\">poll<\/a> by Siena College Research Institute, 84% of respondents said \u201cAmericans not exercising their freedom of speech in everyday situations due to fear of retaliation or harsh criticism\u201d was a serious problem.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConcern of the loss of civil liberties is ahead or crime and education on the list of things that voters are concerned about,\u201d Pell said.<\/p>\n<p>The CIR\u2019s other free-speech cases include those of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cir-usa.org\/case\/norman-wang-v-university-of-pittsburgh\/\">Dr. Norman Wang<\/a>, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine who was disciplined over an article published in the Journal of the American Heart Association and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cir-usa.org\/case\/rynearson-v-bass\/\">Richard Rynearson<\/a>, an Air Force veteran who was blocked from the Air Force\u2019s Facebook page by the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, according to the firm\u2019s website.<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Workplace activism has caused a surge in free speech litigation over the past few years as employees have been fired or disciplined for their political views, according to a public<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":206,"featured_media":1490348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1490319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1490319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1490319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1490319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1490348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1490319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1490319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1490319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}