Still No Free Speech At Work: Response To Your Comments on Phil Robertson and Duck Dynasty

Wow! I had no idea so many of my readers loved Duck Dynasty. With almost 2000 comments, I can't possibly respond to them all. When I wrote last week that A&E was probably within its rights to suspend Phil Robertson for making racist (yes, it's racist to say blacks were better off under Jim Crow) and homophobic comments (and I didn't even know then about the sexist and disturbing comments he made about marrying 15-year-old girls), you had lots to say. Some of you talked about religious discrimination. Some wanted to know more about his contract with A&E. I'll talk about those issues in another article.

First I wanted to respond to the fact that even more of you still don't believe that the 1st Amendment doesn't protect you at work.

No First Amendment Protection For Employees? What A Dingbat!

Many of you chastised me for even suggesting such a thing:

• ihave1465fans The dingbat writer of this article diesn't seem to know that Rights in America belong to individuals, not to selected collectives. She is part of a major problem in the country where people seem all too eager to throw their rights away !

For more on the reader comments (I included some of the highlights) and my response, read my article at AOL Jobs.

Just Because Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson Survived Doesn't Mean You Have Free Speech At Work

Unless you've been out of the country for the holidays, you probably heard about the brouhaha over Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson's anti-gay and racist comments. He was interviewed by GQ and made comments that got him suspended indefinitely by A&E Television Networks, LLC. That caused an uproar, with petitions from Robertson supporters flying and claims that A&E violated his First Amendment rights. He was then reinstated.

Does this mean that you should let loose with your beliefs about race, women, gays, or religion at work or in your public social media? Heck no. You probably aren't bringing in millions of dollars of revenue to the company. You probably don't have thousands of supporters who will petition for you. You'll just be fired.

My latest article at AOL Jobs has gotten a huge number of angry comments from readers who swear I'm ignorant about the First Amendment and got this wrong. If you're a regular reader here, you know there's no right to free speech at work. You can refresh your memory by reading about Ozzie Guillen's run-in with free speech at work and 10 Workplace Rights You Think You Have - But Don't.  

If you want to read my AOL Jobs piece on Duck Dynasty (or just want to see the comments - over 1500 and climbing), the article is here.