Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T17:15:24.009Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Cringing and the Craven: Freedom of Expression in, Around, and Beyond the Workplace

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Bruce Barry
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

Work is a place where many adults devote significant portions of their waking lives, but it is also a place where civil liberties, including freedom of speech, are significantly constrained. I examine the regulation and control of expressive activity in and around the workplace from legal, managerial, and ethical perspectives. The focus of this article is on workplace freedom of expression: the ability to engage in acts of expression at or away from the workplace, on subjects related or unrelated to the workplace, free from the threat of discipline or discharge. I present a taxonomy of workplace-relevant acts of expression, describe the present legal status of workplace expression, review and integrate theoretical perspectives on free speech, drawn mainly from legal theory and philosophy, and critically assess the state of freedom of expression in the workplace, arguing that it is excessively and unnecessarily limited in both law and management practice.

Type
Articles
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , April 2007 , pp. 263 - 296
Copyright
Copyright © Business Ethics Quarterly 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alge, B. J. 2001. “Effects of Computer Surveillance on Perceptions of Privacy and Procedural Justice.” Journal of Applied Psychology 86: 797–804.Google Scholar
Allred, S. 1988. “From Connick to Confusion: The Struggle to Define Speech on Matters of Public Concern.” Indiana Law Journal 64: 43–81.Google Scholar
Almond, G. A. 1991. “Capitalism and Democracy.” Political Science and Politics 24: 467–74.Google Scholar
Andrias, K. E. 2003. “A Robust Public Debate: Realizing Free Speech in Workplace Representation Elections.” Yale Law Journal 112: 2415–63.Google Scholar
Associated Press 1999. “Supreme Court Upholds Firing of Man who Refused to Put Flag Up at Work.” Archives of Television Station WTNH, New Haven/Hartford, Conn. (October 4, 1999) (accessed September, 28, 2004, at http://archivesearch.wtnh.com/news/1999/oct/10041999-flag.html).Google Scholar
Ayoub, H. 1984. “The State Action Doctrine in State and Federal Courts.” Florida State University Law Review 11: 893–920.Google Scholar
Baker, C. E. 1989. Human Liberty and Freedom of Speech. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Balkin, J. M. 1990. “Some Realism about Pluralism: Legal Realist Approaches to the First Amendment.” Duke Law Journal 1990: 375–430.Google Scholar
Balkin, J. M. 2004. “Digital Speech and Democratic Culture: A Theory of Freedom of Expression for the Information Society.” New York University Law Review 79: 1–58.Google Scholar
Ballam, D. A. 1996. “Exploding the Original Myth Regarding Employment-at-Will: The True Origins of the Doctrine.” Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law 17: 91–130.Google Scholar
Ballam, D. A. 2000. “Employment-at-Will: The Impending Death of a Doctrine.” American Business Law Journal 37: 653–87.Google Scholar
Barak-Erez, D. 1995. “A State Action Doctrine for an Age o Privatization.” Syracuse Law Review 45: 1169–92.Google Scholar
Barry, B., and Shapiro, D. L. 2000. “When Will Grievants Choose Voice?: A Test of Situational, Motivational, and Attributional Explanations.” International Journal of Conflict Management 11: 106–34.Google Scholar
Berenson, A. 2002. “Enron Fired Workers for Complaining Online.” The New York Times (January 21): C1.Google Scholar
Bies, R. J. 1996. “Beyond the Hidden Self: Psychological and Ethical Aspects of Privacy in Organizations.” In Codes of Conduct: Behavioral Research into Business Ethics, ed. Messick, D. M. and Tenbrunsel, A. E.New York: Russell Sage, 104–16.Google Scholar
Bingham, L. B. 1994. “Employee Free Speech in the Workplace: Using the First Amendment as Public Policy for Wrongful Discharge Actions.” Ohio State Law Journal 55: 341–91.Google Scholar
Blades, L. E. 1967. “Employment-at-Will vs. Individual Freedom: On Limiting the Abusive Exercise of Employer Power.” Columbia Law Review 67: 1404–35.Google Scholar
Bloch, S. J. 2005. “The Judgment of History: Faction, Political Machines, and the Hatch Act.” Journal of Labor & Employment Law 7: 225–77.Google Scholar
Bork, R. H. 1971. “Neutral Principles and Some First Amendment Problems.” Indiana Law Journal 47: 1–35.Google Scholar
Bork, R. H. 1978. The Individual, the State, and the First Amendment. Unpublished speech at the University of Michigan (cited in Baker 1989: 293, n. 6).Google Scholar
Bowen, F., and Blackmon, K. 2003. “Spirals of Silence: The Dynamic Effects of Diversity on Organizational Voice.” Journal of Management Studies 40: 1393–1417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, W. S. 1996. “Technology, Workplace Privacy, and Personhood.” Journal of Business Ethics 15: 1237–48.Google Scholar
Browne, K. R. 1991. “Title VII as Censorship: Hostile-Environment Harassment and the First Amendment.” Ohio State Law Journal 52: 481–550.Google Scholar
Callahan, E. S., Dworkin, T. M., Fort, T. L., and Schipani, C. A. 2002. “Integrating Trends in Whistleblowing and Corporate Governance: Promoting Organizational Effectiveness, Societal Responsibility, and Employee Empowerment.” American Business Law Journal 40: 177–215.Google Scholar
Campbell, T. 2002. Workplace Freedom of Expression. Paper presented at the International Institute for Public Ethics Biennial Conference, Brisbane, Australia.Google Scholar
Cavico, F. J. 2004. “Private Sector Whistleblowing and the Employment-at-Will Doctrine: A Comparative Legal, Ethical, and Pragmatic Analysis.” South Texas Law Review 45: 543–645.Google Scholar
Chemerinsky, E. 1985. “Rethinking State Action.” Northwestern University Law Review 80: 503–57.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. 1993. “Freedom of Expression.” Philosophy and Public Affairs 22: 207–63.Google Scholar
Connor, P. E. 1992. “Decision-Making Participation Patterns: The Role of Organizational Context.” Academy of Management Journal 35: 218–31.Google Scholar
Detert, J. R., and Edmondson, A. C. 2005. No Exit, No Voice: The Bind of Risky Voice Opportunities in Organizations. Harvard Business School Working Paper Series, No. 05–049.Google Scholar
Dunford, B. B., and Devine, D. J. 1998. “Employment-at-Will and Employment Discharge: A Justice Perspective on Legal Action following Termination.” Personnel Psychology 51: 903–34.Google Scholar
Dworkin, R. 1992. “The Coming Battles over Free Speech.” New York Review of Books 39(11): 55–64.Google Scholar
Eagly, A. H., and Chaiken, S. 1993. The Psychology of Attitudes. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.Google Scholar
Emerson, T. I. 1963. “Toward a General Theory of the First Amendment.” Yale Law Journal 72: 877–956.Google Scholar
Emerson, T. I. 1970. The System of Freedom of Expression. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Epstein, R. A. 1984. “In Defense of the Contract At Will.” University of Chicago Law Review 51: 947–82.Google Scholar
Estlund, C. 2003. Working Together: How Workplace Bonds Strengthen a Diverse Democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Estlund, C. L. 1995. “Free Speech and Due Process in the Workplace.” Indiana Law Journal 71: 101–51.Google Scholar
Estlund, C. L. 1997. “Freedom of Expression in the Workplace and the Problem of Discriminatory Harassment.” Texas Law Review 75: 688–777.Google Scholar
Estlund, C. L. 2000. “Working Together: The Workplace, Civil Society, and the Law.” George-town Law Journal 89: 1–95.Google Scholar
Ewing, D. W. 1974. “Free Speech from Nine to Five.” The Nation 218: 755–56.Google Scholar
Ewing, D. W. 1977. Freedom inside the Organization. New York: E. P. Dutton.Google Scholar
Ewing, D. W. 1983. Do it My Way or You're Fired: Employee Rights and the Changing Role of Management Prerogatives. New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Falcone, P. 1999. A Legal Dichotomy? HR Magazine 44(5): 110–20.Google Scholar
Finifter, A. W. 1974. “The Friendship Group as a Protective Environment for Political Deviants.” The American Political Science Review 68: 607–25.Google Scholar
Fiss, O. M. 1996a. The Irony of Free Speech. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Fiss, O. M. 1996b. Liberalism Divided: Freedom of Speech and the Many Uses of State Power. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Ford, C. M. 1996. “A Theory of Individual Creative Action in Multiple Social Domains.” Academy of Management Review 21: 1112–42.Google Scholar
Freedman, W. 1988. Freedom of Speech on Private Property. New York: Quorum.Google Scholar
Frisman, P. 1999. “Fired Worker Wins, so to Speak.” Connecticut Law Tribune (October 25) (via LexisNexis).Google Scholar
Galston, W. 2000. “Civil Society and the ‘Art of Association.’” Journal of Democracy 11(1): 64–70.Google Scholar
Gilbert, A. 2005. “FAQ: Blogging on the Job.” CNET News.com (March 8) (accessed April 19, 2005, at http://news.com.com/2102–1030_3–5597010.html).Google Scholar
Greenawalt, K. 1989. “Free Speech Justifications.” Columbia Law Review 89: 119–55.Google Scholar
Grodin, J. R. 1991. “Constitutional Values in the Private Sector Workplace.” Industrial Relations Law Journal 13: 1–37.Google Scholar
Holden, V. S. 1995. “Effective Voice Rights in the Workplace.” In Freeing the First Amendment: Critical Perspectives on Freedom of Expression, ed. Allen, D. S. and Jensen, R.New York: New York University Press, 114–35.Google Scholar
Holmes, S. A. 1998. “Broker Asserts Political Views Drew Pressure.” The New York Times (July 10): A10.Google Scholar
Huckfeldt, R., Beck, P. A., Dalton, R. J., and Levine, J. 1995. “Political Environments, Cohesive Social Groups, and the Communication of Public Opinion.” American Journal of Political Science 39: 1025–54.Google Scholar
Huckfeldt, R., and Sprague, J. 1995. Citizens, Politics, and Social Communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
ILO. 1958. Convention concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation. International Labour Organization Convention 111, adopted June 25, 1958 (accessed February 15, 2005, at http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/cgi-lex/convde.p1?C111).Google Scholar
ILO 1982. Convention concerning Termination of Employment at the Initiative of the Employer. International Labour Organization Convention 158, adopted June 22, 1982 (accessed February 15, 2005, at http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/cgi-lex/convde.p1?C158).Google Scholar
Ingber, S. 1990. “Rediscovering the Communal Worth of Individual Rights: The First Amendment in Institutional Contexts.” Texas Law Review 69: 1–108.Google Scholar
Janove, J. 2005. “Keep ‘em at Will, Treat ‘em for Cause.” HR Magazine 50(5): 111–17.Google Scholar
Kant, I. 1785/1969. Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, trans. Beck, L. W.Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.Google Scholar
Kilcommins, S., McClean, E., McDonagh, M., Mullally, S., and Whelan, D. 2004. Extending the Scope of Employment Equality Legislation: Comparative Perspectives on the Prohibited Grounds of Discrimination. Report commissioned by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Government of Ireland. Dublin: Stationary Office.Google Scholar
Kim, P. T. 1997. “Bargaining with Imperfect Information: A Study of Worker Perceptions of Legal Protection in an At-Will World.” Cornell Law Review 83: 105–60.Google Scholar
Kittner, M., and Kohler, T. C. 2000. “Conditioning Expectations: The Protection of the Employment Bond in German and American Law.” Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal 21: 263–330.Google Scholar
Klare, K. E. 1982. “The Public/Private Distinction in Labor Law.” University of Pennsylvania Law Review 130: 1358–1422.Google Scholar
Kohler, T. C. 1999. “The Employment Relation and its Ordering at Century's End: Reflections on Emerging Trends in the United States.” Boston College Law Review 41: 103–23.Google Scholar
Ladenson, R. F. 1989. “Free Speech in the Workplace and the Public-Private Distinction.” Law and Philosophy 7: 247–61.Google Scholar
Leonard, A. S. 1988. “A New Common Law of Employment Termination.” North Carolina Law Review 66: 631–86.Google Scholar
Lieberwitz, R. L. 1986. “Freedom of Speech in Public Sector Employment: The Deinstitutionalization of the Public Sector Workplace.” University of California, Davis, Law Review 19: 597–668.Google Scholar
Lippke, R. 1992. “Speech, Conscience, and Work.” Social Theory and Practice 18: 237–58.Google Scholar
Lowenfels, L. D., and Bromberg, A. R. 2004. “Implied Private Actions under Sarbanes-Oxley.” Seton Hall Law Review 34: 775–806.Google Scholar
Manning, R. C. 1997. “Liberal and Communitarian Defense of Workplace Privacy.” Journal of Business Ethics 16: 817–23.Google Scholar
Marshall, W. P. 1985. “Diluting Constitutional Rights: Rethinking ‘Rethinking State Action.’” Northwestern University Law Review 80: 558–70.Google Scholar
Massaro, T. M. 1987. “Significant Silences: Freedom of Speech in the Public Sector Workplace.” Southern California Law Review 61: 3–77.Google Scholar
McCall, J. J. 2003. “A Defense of Just Cause Dismissal Rules.” Business Ethics Quarterly 13: 151–75.Google Scholar
Meiklejohn, A. 1948/1965. Political Freedom: The Constitutional Powers of the People. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Meiklejohn, A. 1961. “The First Amendment is an Absolute.” Supreme Court Review 1961: 245–66.Google Scholar
Mill, J. S. 1859/1974. On Liberty. Baltimore: Penguin.Google Scholar
Morrison, E. W., and Milliken, F. J. 2000. “Organizational Silence: A Barrier to Change and Development in a Pluralistic World.” Academy of Management Review 25: 706–25.Google Scholar
Muhl, C. J. 2001. “The Employment-at-Will Doctrine: Three Major Exceptions.” Monthly Labor Review 124(1): 3–11.Google Scholar
Mutz, D. C. 2002. “The Consequences of Cross-Cutting Networks for Political Participation.” American Journal of Political Science 46: 838–55.Google Scholar
Near, J. P., and Miceli, M. P. 1995 “Effective Whistle-Blowing.” Academy of Management Review 20: 679–708.Google Scholar
Noelle-Neumann, E. 1991. “The Theory of Public Opinion: The Concept of the Spiral of Silence.” In Communication Yearbook 14, ed. Anderson, J.Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage, 256–87.Google Scholar
Norris, M. P. 1991. “Limitations on an Employer's Ability to Discipline Free Speech.” Employee Relations Law Journal 17: 473–81.Google Scholar
Oppenheimer, D. B. 1996. “Workplace Harassment and the First Amendment: A Reply to Professor Volokh.” Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law 17: 321–32.Google Scholar
Peller, G., and Tushnet, M. 2004. “State Action and a New Birth of Freedom.” Georgetown Law Journal 92: 779–817.Google Scholar
Post, R. 1993. “Meiklejohn's Mistake: Individual Autonomy and the Reform of Public Discourse.” University of Colorado Law Review 64: 1109–37.Google Scholar
Post, R. C. 1995. Constitutional Domains: Democracy, Community, Management. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Post, R. C. 2000. “Reconciling Theory and Doctrine in First Amendment Jurisprudence.” California Law Review 88: 2353–74.Google Scholar
Putnam, R. D. 1995. “Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital.” Journal of Democracy 6(1): 65–78.Google Scholar
Putnam, R. D. 2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Radin, T. J., and Werhane, P. H. 2003. “Employment-at-Will, Employee Rights, and Future Directions for Employment.” Business Ethics Quarterly 13 113–30.Google Scholar
Redish, M. H. 1982. The Value of Free Speech.” University of Pennsylvania Law Review 130: 591–645.Google Scholar
Reich, C. A. 1991. “The Individual Sector.” Yale Law Journal 100: 1409–48.Google Scholar
Rubin, E. L. 2005. Beyond Camelot: Rethinking Politics and Law for the Modern State. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Rudy, J. 2002. “What They Don't Know Won't Hurt Them: Defending Employment-at-Will in Light of Findings that Employees Believe they Possess Just Cause Protection.” Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law 23: 307–67.Google Scholar
Sangree, S. 1995. “Title VII Prohibitions against Hostile Environment Sexual Harassment and the First Amendment: No Collision in Sight.” Rutgers Law Review 47: 461–561.Google Scholar
Scanlon, T. 1972. “A Theory of Freedom of Expression.” Philosophy & Public Affairs 1: 204–26.Google Scholar
Scanlon, T. 1979. “Freedom of Expression and Categories of Expression.” University of Pittsburgh Law Review 40: 519–50.Google Scholar
Schultz, V. 2000. “Life's Work.” Columbia Law Review 100: 1881–1964.Google Scholar
Seligman, A. B. 1992. The Idea of Civil Society. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Shiffrin, S. 1984. “The First Amendment and Economic Regulation: Away from a General Theory of the First Amendment.” Northwestern University Law Review 78: 1212–83.Google Scholar
Sobel, R. 1993. “From Occupational Involvement to Political Participation: An Exploratory Analysis.” Political Behavior 15: 339–53.Google Scholar
Stancil, C. L. 2004. “Moulton Woman Says She Lost Job for Sporting Kerry Sticker on Car.” Decatur Daily (September 12) (accessed February 22, 2005, at http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/040912/sticker.shtml).Google Scholar
Strauss, D. A. 1991. “Persuasion, Autonomy, and Freedom of Expression.” Columbia Law Review 91: 334–71.Google Scholar
Sugarman, S. D. 2003. “‘Lifestyle Discrimination’ in Employment.” Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law 24: 377–438.Google Scholar
Summers, C. W. 1986. “The Privatization of Personal Freedoms and Enrichment of Democracy: Some Lessons from Labor Law.” University of Illinois Law Review 1986: 689–723.Google Scholar
Summers, C. W. 2000. “Employment at Will in the United States: The Divine Right of Employers.” Journal of Labor & Employment Law 3: 65–86.Google Scholar
Sunstein, C. R. 1992. “Free Speech Now.” University of Chicago Law Review 59: 255–316.Google Scholar
Sunstein, C. R. 1993. Democracy and the Problem of Free Speech. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Sunstein, C. R. 2002. “State Action Is always Present.” Chicago Journal of International Law 3: 465–69.Google Scholar
de Tocqueville, A. 1835/1969. Democracy in America. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books.Google Scholar
Tyler, T. R., Degoey, P., and Smith, H. 1996. “Understanding Why the Justice of Group Procedures Matters: A Test of the Psychological Dynamics of the Group-Value Model.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 70: 913–30.Google Scholar
Van Dyne, L., Ang, S., and Botero, I. C. 2003. “Conceptualizing Employee Silence and Employee Voice as Multidimensional Constructs.” Journal of Management Studies 40: 1359–92.Google Scholar
Vickers, L. 2002. Freedeom of Speech and Employment. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Volokh, E. 1995. “How Harassment Law Restricts Free Speech.” Rutgers Law Review 47: 563–76.Google Scholar
Wallace, P. 2004. The Internet in the Workplace: How New Technology Is Transforming Work. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wallack, T. 2005. “Beware if Your Blog Is Related to Work.” San Francisco Chronicle (January 24): C1.Google Scholar
Weatherford, M. S. 1982. “Interpersonal Networks and Political Behavior.” American Journal of Political Science 26: 117–43.Google Scholar
Wells, M. L. 2001. “Section 1983, the First Amendment, and Public Employee Speech: Shaping the Right to Fit the Remedy (and Vice Versa).” Georgia Law Review 35: 939–1019.Google Scholar
Werhane, P. H. 1985. Persons, Rights & Corporations. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Werhane, P. H. 1999. “Justice and Trust.” Journal of Business Ethics 21: 237–49.Google Scholar
Werhane, P. H., Radin, T. J., and Bowie, N. E. 2004. Employment and Employee Rights. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Yamada, D. C. 1998. “Voices from the Cubicle: Protecting and Encouraging Private Employee Speech in the Post-Industrial Workplace.” Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law 19: 1–59.Google Scholar