Talking Politics in the Workplace

Free elections are one of the greatest innovations of the American political system. This sounds a little puzzling given the climate of the present election, but the United States has succeeded in electing almost every one of its Presidents without violence (the Civil War being the exception). In comparison, many other nations can’t hold a single election without their military coming in and declaring the victor.

Still, American political elections can produce enormous tension. Everyone has the right to voice their opinions about the election yet most people will agree that we cannot force individual beliefs onto others. These two rules often come into conflict in employment settings where one side may hold power over another. Of course, these disputes aren’t limited to one party or another. Both Romney and Obama supporters have called the fundamental values of free speech and freedom from oppression into question in each of these illuminating cases.

In Pennsylvania, a geometry teacher named Lynette Gaymon mocked and harassed sixteen year old Samatha Pawlucy for wearing a T-Shirt promoting Romney-Ryan. Gaymon claimed that Charles Carroll High (the school they attended) was a “Democratic school” and that wearing the T-shirt was like wearing a KKK robe. The Port Richmond District has issued an apology and Gaymon has apologized for her statements, although the damage has already been done.

Meanwhile, Bob Murray, the CEO of Murray Energy had his workers attend a Romney rally. If Mitt Romney wondered why so many coal miners attended his August rally in Ohio, Romney didn’t show it as the Republican candidate told the miners what a great boss they had. His statement probably didn’t take into account that Murray had forced his employees to attend Romney’s rally –without pay–.

Last and probably least, Richard Lacks, CEO of Lacks Enterprise, sent a letter to the workers of his automobile plants in Michigan explaining that they should expect a bonus soon. Oh, and the company would be passing the costs of health care to its employees if Obama won his reelection this November.

It is obvious that this election is bringing out the worst of employer-employee relations. If there is a political division in the workplace, you should pay attention to each of these stories to avoid any excessive potential conflicts.

First, if you interact with any citizens in any government capacity, you should avoid pushing politics to those citizens. Gaymon, the teacher from Pennsylvania, violated the student’s free speech. Second, avoid breaking laws while promoting politics. Bob Murray might soon find himself on the receiving end of a lawsuit for withholding pay for non-work activities from his miners.

Finally, and most importantly, everyone has a right to free speech, even the evil boss who passes taxes down to his employees. Richard Lacks might not have a lot of tact, but he does have the right to express his views to his own employees (he’s also surprisingly honest and open). The bonus could be seen as a bribe and his statement that he would pass the increased cost of Obamacare to his employees could be seen as a threat. However, it is unclear if the bonus is connected to the political message in any way other than being in the same letter.

The statement about passing the costs is also a reasonable business decision; many businesses are expected to pass the costs of mandatory healthcare to either their consumers or their employees. Furthermore, Lacks can’t be threatening retaliatory action against his employees if they vote for the President because Lacks has no way of finding out exactly which employees followed his words.

Some people might look at all these rules and just throw their arms in the air in frustration and decide that they should just avoid talking about politics, at least in the office. This is, however, the wrong conclusion to draw from all these stories. Our predecessors did not fight for these rights so that we could hide ourselves behind walls of self-censorship. Laws are minimal standards of conduct which all citizens are held to. Reasonable people should be able to discuss politics with coworkers and even employers without fear of pay cuts or harassing behavior.