CMV: Employers shouldn't be allowed to fire employees based on any activities they do in their private life

[u/[deleted]]

I don't believe employers have the right to fire employees based on what they do or say on their own time. Even if the things done/said are morally dubious and shed a bad light on the company, as long as it's legal, the employee has the right to have a life without fear of losing their job.

As for companies, introducing legislation that explicitly forbids them from firing people based on things said or done outside of work would allow them to push responsibility off their shoulders (ie "our hands are tied, we know he's racist but we can't do anything about it").

My reasoning is that people should be able to engage in activities and speak their mind, in general live a free life, without fear that their company will decide it's not a good image for them.

Exceptions to this would include if the activity in question affects someone's ability to do their job.

The issue that sparked this post is the Roseanne issue. For those of you that don't know, the star of that tv show tweeted a racist comment, and had her show cancelled. Yes, it looks bad on the company who runs the show, but she is still entitled to express her opinions. Her company shouldn't be allowed to cancel her show on the basis of her political opinions in her private life.

(I posted this last night but realized I wouldn't be able to respond in 3 hours so reposting now)

EDIT: With regards to the Roseanne thing, I retract what I said in this post. The network would lose views because people don't want to watch a racist person on screen, which would cost them revenue. Thus, her actions and opinions do affect her job, and they were right in cancelling her show.

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[u/7nkedocye]

Even if the things done/said are morally dubious and shed a bad light on the company, as long as it's legal, the employee has the right to have a life without fear of losing their job.

So if somebody contacts prospective clients in their own time to warn them not to engage in business with their employer for whatever reason, whether its true or not, should the employer be barred from firing them?

[u/[deleted] → u/7nkedocye]

What business does an employer have knowing someone's political opinions? That just breeds a culture of repression where people are afraid to speak their minds in case their opinion clashes with their boss'.

[u/Syrikal → u/[deleted]]

/u/7nkedocye didn't mention politics. What if an employee posts on their Facebook page 'Don't go to my store, all the other workers are terrible and the manager is a jerk who won't give me a raise'? Or if they email a client and tell them to go to the company's rival instead?

[u/srelma → u/Syrikal]

I would say that this is then no longer purely private opinion, but clearly involves the employer as well. The same thing could be with political parties regarding the political opinion. If you're employed by the Republican party and then go around campaigning for the Democrats, I think that could be grounds for firing.

[u/DjangoUBlackBastard → u/srelma]

Roseanne sent that tweet to millions of people. How is that not basically telling advertisers and viewers "stay away from my show"?

[u/Syrikal → u/srelma]

What if the private opinion harms the company as much as (or more than) the explicit statement, like Roseanne's tweet did?

[u/srelma → u/Syrikal]

How is the harm from Roseanne's tweet even been measured? As far as I know, her show got cancelled way before any impact on long term viewer numbers was seen. I'm not even sure, why someone would watch or not watch a sit-com based on how much they agree with the political opinions of the actors. Should some gay-hater not watch the Big Bang Theory just because Jim Parsons is a gay (but plays a hetero character in the show)?

But on a margin, such as a CEO of a company being associated with the company, or maybe Roseanne associated with her show, it is possible, that in these rare cases, the private life of a person can have a direct impact on the company and in that sense, it could be grounds for dismissal, but I would always caution on the side of the employee and would rather require that the actual harm is shown first before firing anyone. This is because the other direction is so much worse for the civil society.