Bizblogger

Site for Free Markets and Free People

Saturday, June 25, 2005

Allstate Terminates Employee for "Anti-Gay" Article

J. Matt Barber, a manager for Allstate, was recently fired after two human resource managers confronted Barber with a story he wrote for Mens News Daily that advocated against gay marriage.

The precedent raises an interesting dilemma for bloggers: if a company knows an employee is blogging about controversial or political opinions, what should the company do? Does free speech still apply? I believe that's one reason that many of the most popular bloggers are either self-employed or work for an industry (such as a university) where commentary is highly encouraged.

Just another reason that I prefer not to advertise my name on my blog.