Politically Charged

Todd Fredrickson, managing partner of the Denver office, was quoted in the May 21 Law Week Colorado article "Politically Charged." The article noted that the First Amendment's broad guarantee of free speech does not extend into the private-sector workplace. Employers can have a policy against political advocacy in the workplace as long as they ban other forms of advocacy as well. They cannot single out politics. Employers that allow some form of political expression in the workplace need to be sure their supervisors keep an ear to the ground in case these sentiments escalate into policy debates. Todd said: "Most managers are trained to do that kind of monitoring. The vigilance that's expected may be turned up a notch because it's the political season."