A lot of employees unfortunately believe mistakenly that they have a First Amendment freedom of speech and expression right that protects them from their employers disciplining them for saying things inside or outside of work. This belief is incorrect. People have no freedom of speech right in the context of their jobs in California. Freedom of speech and expression is a limited right which people have only to be free from government-imposed suppression, not from restraints imposed by private employers. As a result, employers generally may legally fire employees because of their speech, expression, views, opinions, and ideas including, but not limited to, internet posts such as those on social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube.
However, there are several exceptions for specific protected activities that employees in California may engage in which may have protection from their employers’ discipline, retaliation, or termination. Some examples of protected activity for employees’ speech and expression are opposing their employers’ unlawful workplace discrimination on the basis of race, religious, nationality, disability, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, or veteran status; disclosing the amount of one’s wages; disclosing information about the employers’ working conditions; engaging in other concerted activities for collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection; and political activity. The protection generally would extend to internet and social media posts as well as more traditional forms of speech.
As a result, employees should exercise caution when posting on the internet, particularly when posting anything which refers to or references their employer.
(See Link(s): Government Code Section 12940 and Labor Code Sections 232, 232.5, 923, 1101, and 1102)