Do "off-duty lawful conduct" laws actually do anything?

November 3, 2023 10:04 PM

There have been some recent firings of employees for support of one side or the other in recent conflicts and some less recent ones for saying stupid/racist/sexist/homophobic things or acting an ass, but not unlawfully. Some states have laws protecting off-duty lawful conduct. Do they have any teeth?

California has Labor Code sections 96(k) and 1101
New York has 201-D. Colorado, Louisiana, and North Dakota are also mentioned in employment lawyers' websites warning employers to tread carefully. (these kind of posts are all I find on this subject)

I've never heard of anyone fighting an employer using these laws. Maybe a letter from the employee's lawyer quietly gets better severance or a settlement, but no one seems to keep their job. Or do they?

posted by ASCII Costanza head to Work & Money (2 answers total)

It is too early to tell whether any of these laws can be applied against adverse employment decisions for pro-Palestinian political speech/acts. There will be a lot of hesitation to deny employers the right to fire people for what the employer regards as hate speech.
posted by MattD at 10:58 AM on November 4, 2023

I've seen this sort of law used to determine whether and when a person can get unemployment benefits after being fired. But it didn't affect their ability to keep the job.
posted by pril at 8:22 AM on November 6, 2023 [1 favorite]