WASHINGTON, May 30 (Reuters) - A New York City hospital fired a Palestinian American Muslim nurse after she called Israel’s war in Gaza a “genocide” during an acceptance speech for an award for her work with bereaved mothers who lost their children during pregnancy and childbirth.
A spokesperson of the hospital, NYU Langone Health, said on Thursday that labor and delivery nurse Hesen Jabr had previously been warned not to bring her views “on this divisive and charged issue into the workplace.”
Jabr posted on Instagram that she was awarded on May 7, when she made her remarks, adding that she was handed a termination letter later in the month.
Free speech as a concept isn’t just limited to the government, that’s a limitation of the First Amendment.
Free Speech ≠ First Amendment
The employer is within their rights to terminate so long as it’s not on the basis of a protected class (gender, religion, age etc.).
I don’t agree that stating an opinion should be grounds but I do not believe they violated anything.
Even worse, she’s recognized for excellent work performance so you’d think that matters more….but nope.
I didn’t realize New York was an “At-Will Employment” state. As a Canadian, it’s so weird that NY is one of the most progressive states, yet feels so far behind us (and we, in turn, are so far behind many European countries).
It seems wild how one can be fired. Unless I completely breach my contract and/or steal, I don’t think the business can get rid of me, period. Without some form of redundancy and then I’m laughing all the way to the bank.
Right? Sounds like a great place to work. They’ll be attracting the best and brightest with PR like this.
Legal =/= Moral
Sure, but it also doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want without consequences?
Neither does Free Speech as defined in the First Amendment. No right is absolute, the question is where’s the line?
Broadly there are obviously different lines for various reasons.
I don’t support the decision made in the article, however, if she was told not to talk about it at work by her employer and she chose to do so, she crossed the line of insubordination regardless of the content of her message.
I don’t know specifics of New York labour laws, but I know they’re much more employee friendly than other states (though that’s a pretty low bar to clear). I know some speech is protected, so the content does matter.
That’s were the rotfl is, IMHO
We’re not talking about concepts here, but about laws. Free speech does not apply in this case.