Maybe Mark Jen was the tipping point: even CNN has picked up on the “fired for blogging” meme. Read their article here. Kind of a puff piece, but does delve into some First Amendment issues.

But employee and non-employee bloggers don’t have the same legal protections.

 

Workers who rant or rave about bosses online — whether it’s done on the company clock or at home — generally don’t have a strong defense.

 

In most states, employees who don’t have a contract are considered “at-will,” which means they can quit at any time and for any reason. Conversely, employers have the right to fire them at any time and for any reason, except for well-known exceptions like race, age or gender.

 

So whether a supervisor discovers an underling ridiculing his thinning hair at the company elevator bank, at a local bar after work, or on the worker’s personal blog doesn’t matter. In either instance, the boss can turn around and say, ” ‘We don’t need you. Why don’t you go work for someone else?’ ” said Margaret Edwards, a partner with Littler Mendelson, a national law firm that represents employers.

 

Cliff Palefsky, a San Francisco employment lawyer, says there’s a false sense that employers can’t punish their workers for voicing personal opinions — on their blogs or anywhere else. “People mistakenly believe that the First Amendment protects them in the workplace, which is generally not the case,” he said.

Gee, it sure seems like the way to quickly get famous online these days is to get fired for blogging.