Political speech can contribute to a hostile work environment

Political expression is not often a factor in workplace discrimination or hostile work environment claims. This is because political opinion is not a protected class, and political speech is not usually discriminatory towards classes that are protected, such as religion, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin. In a recent opinion, however, the Massachusetts Superior Court determined that, in certain circumstances, political expression can contribute to unlawful discrimination in violation of Massachusetts law.

Political opinion or harassment?

Joshua Brzuchalski, who worked as a salesman at Digital Guardian, alleged that he was harassed by some of his coworkers based on his religion, which was Judaism. According to Brzuchalski, those coworkers openly expressed their support for Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement. Beliefs associated with the MAGA movement included, but were not limited to, a lack of tolerance for Jewish people. He alleged that, shortly into their employment, he and a Jewish coworker, Jeremy McNair, were subjected to comments he believed to be derogatory stereotypes historically used to describe Jewish individuals.

He did not allege any other overtly discriminatory comments, and he instead claimed that those coworkers continued their harassment by talking about the MAGA movement in an intimidating manner and utilized physical acts of intimidation, such as throwing things at them. The coworkers also allegedly made derogatory comments about Native Americans and the Black Lives Matter movement.