The "at-will" rule in American law is defined as the right of a private sector employer to dismiss an employee without a contract for virtually any reason. The rule has thrived since the nineteenth century and is still a major factor in the employer-employee relationship. However, recent court decisions have fashioned common law…

To consider one aspect of workplace freedom of speech--the question of authority versus freedom, this paper examines the first amendment protections of government workers. The paper looks at freedom of speech rights by using two theoretical frameworks (the natural rights view and the law and economics view) to analyze Supreme Court decisions on…

A case review study of court decisions concerning public employees' constitutional right of free speech yields conflicting and sometimes disturbing results. The most often cited precedent in these decisions is the 1968 Supreme Court ruling in "Pickering v. Board of Education" in which a letter from a school teacher to a newspaper…

Free speech for the public employee is much more limited than free speech in the society at large. The courts have been unwilling to extend free speech protection carte blanche and have instead cautiously attempted to define what speech would be allowed or prohibited in public organizations. This approach is illustrated in four areas of court…

Most employees in the United States are employees at will--they can be fired for any or no reason. In one exception to this rule, however, federal or state statutes protect employee expression, most significantly in the area of private employee testimony. The protective schemes developed by Congress and the state legislatures are of two types:…