On April 29, 2022, organized labor achieved a long-sought political objective when the Connecticut House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 163, “An Act Protecting Employee Freedom of Speech and Conscience.” Effective July 1, 2022, this legislation outlaws mandatory employer-sponsored meetings, often referred to by unions as “captive audience” meetings, which unions argue are major deterrents to labor organizing. If as expected the bill is signed by Governor Lamont, Connecticut will join Oregon as the only states with bans on employer-sponsored meetings.

Senate Bill 163 amends Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-51q, an existing statute that authorizes damage suits against employers that subject employees to discipline or discharge for the exercise of rights protected under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution or the counterpart provisions of Article I of the Connecticut Constitution. Senate Bill 163 will now amend the statute in these ways with respect to employer meetings:

1. Modify the definition of the scope of the constitutional rights protected by the statute to include “the right of freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of association, and shall include the right not to be required to listen to speech.”
2. Impose liability on employers that violate an employee’s constitutional rights, including subjecting employees to discipline and discharge for refusing to attend an employer-sponsored meeting or to listen to speech via communications, if the primary purpose...

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