Yesterday the Internet lit up with the story of a man who claimed he was fired for being a “fairly big fan” of My Little Pony (making him a Brony). Corey Robin looks at the law:
Most people seem to think that First Amendment-ish freedoms – the freedom of not merely
speech but of expression, of personal style, etc. – apply in the workplace. They don’t. And while there are a host of protections for protected categories of workers, those constitute a limited number of cases. The vast majority of cases of workplace coercion are simply not covered by federal or state law (though see this article by Eugene Volokh for a counterpoint; his focus, however, is on exclusively political speech). Unless you have a union, which ensures that you can only be fired for just cause, you’re often screwed.
Here’s the bottom line: in most American workplaces, the boss can fire any brony who loves My Little Pony. It’s totally legal. And that’s the problem.
(Image from MyLittleBrony.com)
The Dish 