(After registering, confirmation, instructions & reminders will be emailed to you directly from our Conference Service Provider: gotowebinar@citrixonline.com)
Derek Fenton, the former New Jersey Transit train conductor who was fired after publicly burning pages from the Koran on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks filed a lawsuit looking for reinstatement and monetary damages. The American Civil Liberties Union said in the lawsuit that Fenton's dismissal violated his constitutional right to free expression.
Fenton burned part of the Koran to protest plans to build an Islamic center several blocks from the World Trade Center site. He was not arrested. NJ Transit said it fired him two days later for violating its code of ethics. Fenton "has the right to engage as a citizen in expressive activity about matters of public interest, including matters related to the proposed construction of an Islamic community center near Ground Zero,'' the lawsuit alleges. "When he burned pages of the Koran on September 11, 2010, as a protest against the center, Fenton was exercising that right.''
NJ Transit's code of ethics requires employees to give notice to an ethics liaison officer before participating in political activities. An employee can then participate so long as state or federal law or agency rules don't explicitly prohibit them and ""the activity doesn't conflict with the employee's official duties.'' When Fenton was fired, the agency released a statement saying it had "concluded that Mr. Fenton violated his trust as a state employee and therefore was dismissed."
This case raises important issues about the circumstances under which an employer, particularly a public employer, can terminate employees over conduct engaged in on their own time. This webinar will examine the allegations in Fenton’s complaint and discuss relevant caselaw.
Speaker:
John Sarno Esq.
Employers Association of New Jersey
Registrations Fees:
$55 for EANJ and N.J. State Chamber Members (unlimited registrations per company)
$95 Non-Members (unlimited registrations per company)
Long distance phone charges will apply
(After registering, confirmation, instructions & reminders will be emailed to you directly from our Conference Service Provider: gotowebinar@citrixonline.com)
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