FMA posters at workplace....illegal???

[katym]

When I walked into work today (which, btw, is just a cashier job at a local grocery), there was a poster tacked to the wall, about how to support the marriage amendment. I took it off the wall, and this act was not well recieved. I'm not a hothead, I dont want to jump into an argument with a superior without knowing if I'm right, but I honestly thought posting political support posters was illegal unless its OKd by all workers or something. I told them I'd leave it up if I could put something for gay rights up....heh, they werent too happy.

[CO Liberal]

1. Where I Work...

...political signs, banners, and posters are prohibited.

[DebJ]

2. I believe this could be considered 'harassment'.

[katym]

4. thats what I thought...

:wtf:

[yankeedem]

3. Could contribute to a hostile workplace

especially if you are gay. You may have a case if they take adverse action against you.

[katym]

5. well see

thats part of the problem. I cant even argue that I could be gay because my workplace already knows I'm engaged. They've basically said: if you arent gay, dont complain about it.

[mondo joe]

8. So say you're bisexual.

Then it applies to you.

[RoyGBiv]

10. Be careful where you go with this...

If it's important to you that you keep this job, be careful. Based on my personal experiences, you have very little legal standing. Of course, your state may have more liberal laws than mine, but the "hostile work environment" laws where I am are fairly expansive. They helped me not one bit.

You might try to determine whether the poster was placed with the consent of company ownership, that is, whether your company has a policy regarding political advertisements in the workplace.

[katym]

12. Hmmm

While its only a summer job to tide me over until college starts up again, you'd think a company that called itself employee owned would be a little more forgiving about offending an employee. But I do see your point about whether they knew the poster was up or not.

[RoyGBiv]

13. "Employee Owned"

This can mean a lot of different things. Still, I'm assuming there's some sort of board of directors that sets policy. Any decent sized company *should* have a policy about this, and I'd suggest it would be in your best interests to find out what that policy is. In fact, it might be enough to diffuse the situation just to ask your superiors the question.

If there is a policy, figure out if placing the poster violates it. (Ask to see it in writing.) Most policies about political ads ban all of them. In fact, they're designed to avoid the kind of situation you ran into today.

Now, if there is no policy at all, what you said today was the right way to go.

I'm curious: Was the poster in a place where customers could view it? If so, this opens a different set of tactics you could use to get it taken down and kept down. Company management tends to respond better to customer complaints than to the concerns of employees.

[katym]

14. well

No, it wasnt placed where most customers could see it, only those who had a reason (usually to visit an employee) to be there. Its not closed off, but it is generally an employee-only room. I've looked through the handbook I recieved when I first took the job, but I do not see anything there. However, I dont know if a policy on political signs would be in a employee handbook.

[mongo]

6. sorry, don't think so

Unless you can frame it as sexual harrasement.

Employers own the workplace, not workers.

[katym]

7. Actually, they tout that our chain of stores is "employee owned"

:mad:

[Taylor Mason Powell]

9. You did the right thing.

Even if they had every legal right to put it up, taking it down was the right thing to do. Thank you for standing up for fairness and decency!

I hope you don't get in too much trouble.

[katym]

11. thanks!

:D

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

15. contact the local chapter of ACLU

putting up that poster is sooooooo wrong of them. So wrong.

[katym]

16. didnt think...

...of that. thanks :-D

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

17. Yeah just see if there is someone you

could email or have a brief phone conversation with just in case your employer doesn't see the error of their ways. The ACLU might be interested, especially on a local level. Depends on how heavy their case load is right now.