Today, I came across an article on Netscape.com reporting about the findings of Bruce Barry, a professor of management and sociology at the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, who researched free speech in the workplace and published the book Speechless: The Erosion of Free Expression in the American Workplace (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, June, 2007, available at Amazon.com).

Prof. Bruce Barry

Barry asked himself if there is any free speech at work at all and came to the conclusion that there is not…

because constitutional rights in this country don’t really apply on private property or in the private sector

he writes. I understand that this question is indeed difficult to answer, but getting fired because you have a John Kerry sticker on your car’s bumper, as happened to a woman in a case Barry describes in his book, has nothing to do with free speech at work. If someone works for Lockheed Martin but decides to step up against war and violence in the world in his or her spare time, it might indeed be questionable, but as long as there are no “professional” reasons to be fired there is no justification for such a step.

Barry further adds that…

the question is complicated. It depends, in part, on where you live because some of this is governed by employment law, which varies widely from state to state. It depends, in part, on what kind of speech we’re talking about because there are some laws that cover certain kinds of activity, like political activity, but not others. Those laws also vary from state to state. The other alarming thing I found was that, even with all those complications and exceptions, employers have nearly total control over the expressive activities of employees in this country both on and off the job

This is alarming. He justifies this with the fact that due to the increase of globalization and outsourcing efforts of the industry, many jobs are simply less secure than they might have been some decades ago. I understand this as blackmailing. You either stop your activism in your spare time or you get fired!

Companies may be very cautious about their image, reputation and stewardship of their brand but unless their employee’s activities have something to do with the company or the people working for it, there is no need for concern. By the way, almost every employee working in the US or Germany (where I work) has signed some sort of non-disclosure agreement that, if violated, allows an employer to take appropriate measures to make sure this may not happen again, even if this means firing someone.

Fortunately, here in Germany, the rules and laws also apply to the private sector. No one can get fired because (s)he is a member of a party the employer does not like or for taking part in protests against G8 unless there is evidence that the individual does not get his or her work done. This is private and has to stay there!

What Can Be Done?

One possibility is changing the law by changing the Bill of Rights to apply on private property. That’s not going to happen but it could be done. Additionally, Barry suggests a complete change in mindset of corporate employers:

Employers should not be so quick to assume that expressive activity is a threat to the business. They should understand that they don’t just live in a nine-to-five world where people can do all of their speech and free expression on nights and weekends on their own time. Work and life are interconnected. Employers are just as much stewards of civil society as any other big institution. If employers would see themselves more as participants in that civil society—rather than as an institution apart from it—maybe they would be a little more tolerant and less impulsive at shutting down speech.

I have nothing to add.