Takeaway: While private employers are not governed by the First Amendment, they must nevertheless be mindful that their employees’ on- or off-duty speech and associational activities may be protected by labor laws and various anti-discrimination laws.
A former high school teacher in Massachusetts sued school officials after being terminated for posting six controversial memes to her personal TikTok account a few months before she was hired. Soon after the teacher started her job, the posts came to light and the defendants terminated her employment on the grounds that her continued employment would have a significant negative impact on student learning. The 1st Circuit upheld the trial court’s grant of the defendants’ motion for summary judgment.
During 2021, the teacher liked, shared, posted, or reposted six memes that mocked transgender people and immigrants on her TikTok account. In May of that year, she was elected to the school committee in her hometown.
On Aug. 25, 2021, the teacher was hired to teach math in a neighboring district. The hiring official was unaware of the teacher’s TikTok posts or her position on the other district’s school committee.
On Sept. 21, a newspaper article about the teacher’s posts came to the attention of the hiring official who, in turn, shared it with the principal and superintendent. The teacher was placed on paid administrative leave pending investigation.
On Sept. 22, the principal viewed the neighboring school committee’s meeting...
Dangote Group has dismissed as false and malicious a publication alleging that its President, Aliko Dangote, distanced himself from Tony Elumelu, describing the report as entirely baseless. In a s...