Discussing Politics in a Fire Station: A Punishable Offense
Today’s burning question: Can discussing politics in a fire station land you in trouble? Would it matter if the topic directly impacted you? How about if you were off duty and out of uniform when you made the remarks?
Perhaps you should ask Newark, Ohio Fire Captain David Vermaaten. He was reprimanded for an off duty conversation that took place last March in a fire station over legislation pending in Ohio to limit the collective bargaining rights of firefighters.
Captain Vermaaten filed a grievance claiming the discipline violates his First Amendment rights. Here is a link to the news article discussing the case.
As for the law – public employees cannot be disciplined for exercising their First Amendment rights – but those rights are relatively narrow. The employee must be discussing a matter of public concern and be speaking as a private citizen at the time. We will have to see how Captain’s Vermaaten claims fare in the grievance and perhaps in Federal Court.
