I explain below why the Ninth Circuit’s Rodriguez decision applies to harassment lawsuits brought against private employers. Here I’d like to explain why and how it would apply to non-academic employers. Rodriguez does say that its First Amendment analysis, and its statement that “Without the right to stand against society’s most strongly-held convictions, the marketplace […]
Tag Archives | Rodriguez v. Maricopa
The Ninth Circuit Rodriguez Opinion and Speech in Private Workplaces
By Eugene Volokh on May 20, 2010 4:37 pm in "Hate Speech", Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
The Rodriguez decision arose in a public community college, and it stressed the importance of academic freedom. But I think it would also be relevant to Title VII lawsuits based on speech in non-academic workplaces, and in private workplaces (though not to individually directed insults or sexual propositions). Here let me talk about the private […]
“Free Speech Has Been a Powerful Force for the Spread of Equality Under the Law”;
By Eugene Volokh on May 20, 2010 4:06 pm in "Hate Speech", Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
“we must not squelch that freedom because it may also be harnessed by those who promote retrograde or unattractive ways of thought.” So writes the Ninth Circuit in today’s Rodriguez opinion, in an important holding about the interaction of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. I’ve written before against arguments that First Amendment rights need to […]
Freedom of Speech vs. Workplace Harassment Law — A Big Free Speech Win in the Ninth Circuit
By Eugene Volokh on May 20, 2010 3:44 pm in "Hate Speech", Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
I’ve long written about how workplace harassment law sometimes violates the First Amendment, so I was especially pleased to see today’s Rodriguez v. Maricopa County Community College Dist. (9th Cir.) (written by Chief Judge Kozinski, and joined by retired Justice O’Connor, sitting by designation, and Judge Sandra Ikuta). The entire opinion is much worth reading, […]