Can I be fired for jokingly making a political comment to a guest at work?

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Can I be fired for jokingly making a political comment to a guest at work?

I work at a restaurant. Every Friday we have a political party lunch. Usually a diverse group but this time it was the democrats (elderly). I was not assigned this section but was approached and asked for service (soup). After retrieval I jokingly stated Ron Paul 2012. She laughed and said not here. It was said in a joking context and she took it well, or so I thought. After eating she told my manager and was upset? I was suspended with pay, and pending termination. This doesn’t seem fair to me.

Asked on November 4, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, Oklahoma

Answers:

M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

Fair or not it's probably legal. That is unless you had an employment contract or union agreement that prohibited your employer's action, or there an existing company policy that governed such a circumstance, or you treated this way due to some form of actionable discrimination. If not, then your employer violated no laws.

In a work arrangement, an employer has a great deal of discretion in setting the terms and conditions of employment. This includes when and why to terminate an employee. The fact is that an employee may be discharged for any reason, a bad reason, or no reason at all.  


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