LIEB BLOG

Legal Analysts

Showing posts with label freedom of speech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freedom of speech. Show all posts

Thursday, September 07, 2023

Employees Protected from Political Viewpoint Discrimination by Employers

Effective 9/6/2023, employees in NYS have greatly expanded rights to freedom of speech and conscience. Employees can now avoid their employer's views on politics or religion. This is huge. 

Specifically, A6604, amends Labor Law 201-d, which prohibits employment discrimination for political activities and recreational activities. Under the law, an employee can sue for equitable relief and damages. 


Key Amendments 

Now, the law defines:

"Political matters" as "matters relating to elections for political office, political parties, legislation, regulation and the decision to join or support any political party or political, civic, community, fraternal or labor organization."


"Religious matters" as "matters relating to religious affiliation and practice and the decision to join or support any religious organization or association." 


Under the amended law, employers cannot force employees to attend meetings or listen to / view communications primarily designed to express the employer’s opinions on Religious matters or Political matters.


There is also a notification requirement where employers must post a sign in workplaces informing employees of their rights as per this section.








Wednesday, July 05, 2023

CBS Radio: Legal Analyst Andrew Lieb Talks About The Supreme Court Blocking Biden's Student Loan Plan + Freedom of Speech Discrimination Ruling

Andrew Lieb, a Long Island attorney and legal analyst at Lieb at Law PC, recently spoke with CBS Radio regarding two important Supreme Court rulings. 


First, Lieb discussed the ruling on student debt forgiveness where the court disagreed with President Biden's plan for debt forgiveness. Lieb summarized the situation: "We're talking about this HEROES Act and the Biden administration has relied on this act...And the question becomes does the HEROES Act give the Biden administration the power they want?" The Supreme Court's decision effectively denies the administration's ability to forgive debt based on this Act.


In the second case, Lieb shed light on LGBT discrimination by explaining that it was a freedom of speech case rather than a discrimination case, despite the headlines stating otherwise. The case involved a Christian graphic artist refusing to make specific websites about same-sex couples rather than refusing to work for LGBT people overall. Lieb clarified that the ruling does not permit the denial of services based on sexual orientation. Rather, it emphasizes that "certain creative people speak through their creativity...while you have to serve anyone...all she said is that when she writes the cake, she's not going to make a product with her speech that goes against what she wants to do." This distinction emphasizes that the court's ruling protects creative expression and not discriminatory practices.