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Censoring HR
When a list of human resource executives who contributed to California's Proposition 8 campaign to ban same-sex marriage was recently unleashed on the Internet via the GuyDads blog, the role of HR as an impartial investigator and enforcer of a company's nondiscrimination policies was called into question. The list on that blog not only named the HR leader, but also identified his or her employer as well as the amount of the donation. It also called on readers to boycott those companies. "What do you do if the person in HR is a bigot, supports discrimination, fears homosexuals, or believes in church over state in the workplace?," writes one of the site's bloggers -- two married men living in the San Francisco bay area. "I think it is important to ask management if the HR person's actions are damaging the reputation and goodwill of the company." While free speech is a right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, should companies stop their employees, including HR executives, from saying whatever they want in the public spectrum? "It is a very gray area," says Joel Rice, an employment attorney with the Chicago office of Fisher Phillips. "I think companies are pretty reluctant to dictate what people can do or say in their private lives, unless what they do or say is so extreme and outrageous that it puts the company in a terrible light." But when a company's employees, especially its HR professionals, begin to espouse beliefs on such sensitive issues as gay marriage, Rice says, that creates a "stickier position" for the company. "This is potentially an example where, although you have free-speech rights, what you do outside the workplace could affect your organization, by possibly holding political views that are anathema to the company's stated policies and goals. But, he notes, "Just because you are against gay marriage, that doesn't necessarily mean you are against civil rights in the workplace." However, most companies want to be seen as nondiscriminatory, "so it could be that a company might perceive that an HR executive, a symbol of their commitment to diversity, is expressing views counter to that company's goals," he says. "Then that could create a backlash for the HR executive in question." Such a backlash shouldn't rebound on the organization itself -- in a courtroom setting. "If the person wasn't purporting to speak for the company, then it's kind of hard to say" that the company will be held liable for their words, he says. In the event that an HR executive does make his or her controversial views public, the company is somewhat limited in its available responses, Rice says. "There's not a lot a company can do regarding people exercising their free speech aside from saying: 'This person doesn't speak for us,' " he says. But, he adds, most companies have general policies in place that say, " 'We reserve the right to take action when you do or say something that puts us in a bad light.' " Teresa Tracy, an employment attorney with Berger Kahn, a Marina Del Rey, Calif.-based law firm, says employers have to walk a fine line when it comes to the issue of free speech. "On one hand, HR people certainly have the expected responsibility and obligation, both personally and as a part of the job, to do everything they can to ensure compliance and make sure there is no harassment or discrimination going on. ... The problem comes in when an HR person is known to have supported a political issue that many perceive and believe is discriminatory." Tracy says the issue is one that "the courts are going to have to grapple with," but adds that HR executives should be very careful before they decide to support a controversial cause. "If someone was donating to ... an organization viewed by many as very discriminatory, such as the Ku Klux Klan, would that be something that would be viewed as acceptable?" she asks. "Is anyone going to see that [donation] as being relevant to my job? I think they would." It is imperative, she says, that an HR executive be "sensitive to how they are going to be perceived and whether they are going to impair their employer's ability to present itself as a nondiscriminatory place of employment." Eileen Finn, head of Eileen Finn & Associates, a New York-based retained executive search firm specializing in the placement of HR executives and other corporate professionals, says she tells her clients to keep their personal beliefs off their resumes as much as possible. "There is one thing I recommend, and that is to take ... any religious or political affiliation off their resumes," she says. "If it does not need to be there, and it potentially can be used against you in the interview process, leave it off the resume." It's difficult, she says, to separate the person from the action when it comes to donating to controversial causes. "If someone is anti-gay and votes that way and contributes that way, in some ways it is antithetical to the role that they need to play within HR," she says. "The role they play in HR is in fostering a non-hostile work environment, and creating a value-added HR function to support the leadership of the company. I don't think you can separate that." "I would suggest to them that they think long and hard before they put themselves out there in a public marketplace, on political or social issues." But even if HR executives are cautious, she says this is an issue that won't go away. "This generation is using the Internet as a bully pulpit, so it's going to happen more," she says. HR leaders should understand, Rice says, that "employees of private companies do not have free-speech rights in the workplace. Technically, a private employer can fire someone if they think it's damaging to their business interests." Still, attempts to limit what can be said by employees can meet with resistance, he says. "You're going to hurt morale because people are going to perceive that as a bad place to work and you're going to cut into your talent pool," he says. Reader Feedback December 23, 2008 Copyright 2008© LRP Publications |
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