No Freedom of Speech for Miami Dolphins’ Don Jones
Miami Dolphins safety Don Jones was fined an unidentified amount Sunday and will have to go to educational training after tweeting out a negative comment about Michael Sam, the first openly gay player to be selected in the NFL draft.
This raises an important legal question: can an employee of a private, non-governmental organization be fired for his or her assertions to the press about an issue completely unrelated to the job? The answer: yes.
It seems reasonable to think that this situation would violate one’s freedom of speech. However, the First Amendment provides that the government cannot infringe upon our freedom of speech and expression. There are things that are classified as “forums” where, depending on whether it’s a public forum, non-public forum, etc., they can regulate the type of speech.
Since the NFL and the Miami Dolphins are not a Government agency, the First Amendment freedom of speech would not apply in this situation. The First Amendment applies only to government agencies. As a result, the Miami Dolphins can legally can suspend, fine, and freely regulate the speech of its employees
Comments
The First Amendment is regarding the Constitution of the UNITED STATES. Some of the Several States, California in particular, have constitutional protections that go beyond that required by the United States Constitution. I understand that in some states freedom of speech is an affirmative right. Also some states, have laws prohibiting employers from taking adverse actions against employees lawful conduct that is off-duty. So if Jones was a resident of California and was playing for the Chargers, 49ers or Raiders (all California teams) perhaps he would have some legal protections for his remarks. Disclaimer: I am not an attorney; this is just my take as a layman.