Managing employee speech on and off duty

New York tabloids recently reported on the plight of a New York City (NYC) employee who was promptly terminated after protesting Mayor Eric Adam’s COVID-19 masking policies that affected her son and other tykes. Can she be fired? Can you fire an employee who protests your company’s policies. It isn’t as simple as you think. Read on to understand the issues that come with trying to regulate employee speech in and outside the workplace.

Background

On April 4, 2022, Daniela Jampel, who was reported to be a lawyer in the NYC Law Department, allegedly showed up to protest Mayor Adam’s failure to lift his masking mandate that required her toddler to remain masked. Allegedly posing as a journalist, she asked the mayor to explain the continued need for the mask. “What is the irreparable harm to children aged 2 to 4 to take off their masks, just as they do in Long Island, just as they do in Westchester and when will you unmask our toddlers?”

Following the press conference, the city terminated Jampel citing her “troubling claims about her work for the City Law Department.” To support the firing, a city source provided a tweet, attributed to Jampel, which stated she has “represented cops who lie in court, teachers who molest children, prison guards who beat inmates. It is a job I have done proudly. Until tonight. Fighting to keep masks on toddlers is shameful. I am ashamed of my office.”

Is there ‘free speech’ at work?