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Second Circuit Reinforces the Limits of First Amendment Protected Speech for...
Daniel SchwartzEarlier this year, the Second Circuit came out with an important, wide-ranging decision that clarified the protections that public employees have under the First Amendment....
View ArticleCourt Allows First Amendment Retaliation Claim to Proceed To Trial
Daniel SchwartzLast year, I talked about a First Amendment retaliation case and noted the difficulties in defending against such claims. A new case out of the federal court in Connecticut last week...
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Second Circuit Throws Out Demoted Dean’s First Amendment Claim
Daniel SchwartzThe Second Circuit ruled Friday that the University of Connecticut is entitled to "qualified immunity" on a School of Engineering Dean’s claim that he was demoted in violation of his...
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First Amendment Retaliation Claims by Town Facilities Manager Tossed by...
Daniel SchwartzA former Branford Facilities Manager’s claims that his employment was terminated due to protected speech and his political affiliation were effectively dismissed on Friday, February...
View ArticleEmployee’s Speech Against Employer May Be Protected by First Amendment
Daniel SchwartzEver since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Garcetti v. Ceballos that an employee’s speech pursuant to the employee’s official job duties was not protected by the First Amendment,...
View ArticleDecisions Only Your In-House Lawyer Could Love
Daniel SchwartzIn a post from earlier this week , I indicated that a new Appellate Court decision had some interesting points on wrongful discharge claim that were worth exploring. At the same time,...
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Conn. Supreme Court Rejects $10M Verdict; Insubordination is Not Protected...
Daniel SchwartzFree Speech in Workplace Has Limits In one of the most significant employment law cases decided by the Connecticut Supreme Court in recent years, the Court unanimously ruled earlier...
View ArticleFederal Court Suggests Connecticut Constitution Protects Private Employee Speech
Daniel SchwartzEarlier this summer, the Connecticut Supreme Court issued two decisions that held that the free speech protections in Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 31-51q were limited by the U.S. Supreme...
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Proposed Bill Would Create Chaos for Employers and Constituionalize Common...
Daniel SchwartzEmployers: If there is one proposed bill at the Connecticut General Assembly to be concerned about this year, it is the stealth House Bill 6667. It could have the single biggest impact...
View ArticleThree (Among Many) Problems with Proposed Free Speech Bill
Daniel SchwartzSince the publication of my post last week on House Bill 6667 on free speech in the workplace, there’s been a lot of followup press coverage. Two that I would highlight include this...
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Court: Connecticut Constitution Provides Greater Free Speech Rights For...
Does the Connecticut Constitution provide an independent and greater right of free speech for public (and even private) employees than the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitition? That was a question...
View ArticleFirst Amendment Retaliation Claims Remain Alive (and Well?)
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Garcetti several years ago, there was a lot of chatter about whether public employees still had substantive First Amendment free speech rights. And for a...
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First Amendment and the Workplace: An Update from “Where We Live”
WNPR’s “Where We Live” This morning, I had the pleasure of visiting again with John Dankosky on his WNPR show, Where We Live. Much of the discussion on the show revolved around a pending U.S. Supreme...
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For Connecticut Employers, First Amendment Case Will Have a Small Impact
U.S. Supreme Court Much will be written about the new First Amendment free-speech-in-the-workplace case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court today. But frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if most of them say...
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A Look Ahead: Three (More) Bold Predictions in Connecticut Employment Law in...
Having tackled the predictions in employment law on a federal level, what does the future hold for employers in Connecticut? Besides a debate on Family & Medical Leave Insurance, there are a few...
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Free Speech in the Workplace Gets Another Day in Court
Tomorrow, the Connecticut Supreme Court will hear arguments in Trusz v. UBS. It’s case I’ve mentioned before and even made a prediction about the case back at the start of the year. I’m not going to...
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Expanding Employee Free Speech Rights: How Bad Is the Court’s Decision for...
In yesterday’s post, I alerted you to a new Connecticut Supreme Court decision (Trusz v. UBS Realty Investors, LLC) that expanded employee free speech rights under the Connecticut Constitution. But I...
View ArticleCalling President An Idiot May Be Protected Speech (But Maybe Not)
“President Trump is a Big Fat Idiot” or, for that matter, “Secretary Clinton is a Sore Loser.” Let’s suppose you see one of your employees tweeting one of these expressions on Twitter during non-work...
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Proposed Bill Would Create Chaos for Employers and Constituionalize Common...
Employers: If there is one proposed bill at the Connecticut General Assembly to be concerned about this year, it is the stealth House Bill 6667. It could have the single biggest impact on...
View ArticleThree (Among Many) Problems with Proposed Free Speech Bill
Since the publication of my post last week on House Bill 6667 on free speech in the workplace, there’s been a lot of followup press coverage. Two that I would highlight include this Patch.com...
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