Free Speech Of Pro-Veteran Va Counselor Prohibited By Administration On Facebook

[ranger11bv]

Administration of VR&E Service unlawfully prohibited pro-veteran VA counselor Merri Busch from observing her right to Free Speech off-duty by forbidding her contact with disabled veterans she helped on Facebook as a private citizen. The order is in violation of her First Amendment right to Free Speech and raises a lot of questions within certain circles.

Since when was Free Speech a privilege you could lose in America while helping vets?

Concerned disabled veterans immediately took to Twitter using #FreeMerri. The Facebook group Disabled Veterans – Chapter 31 Voc Rehab now speaks out on social media against the unlawful treatment of Busch. How can VA fully restrict her both on and off duty under threat of punishment without fear of lawsuit?

http://www.disabledveterans.org/2015/04/22/free-speech-of-pro-veteran-va-counselor-prohibited-by-administration-on-facebook/?inf_contact_key=42472aed0f0b8fb7f4d9324218b3041c06d8a051de7491d5eb943ffa74c1a288

[broncovet]

Here is how VA gets around this. When you go to work at VA, you sign an employment agreement where you agree to abide by certain rules of VA. If you fail to follow these rules you can be fired.

One of these "rules" can/does include discussing VA policies outside the workplace. Only people that VA designates as a spokesperson can "speak" on VA policy. This employee may well not be a spokesperson and prohibited from discussing VA policy or procedures outside of VA.

It would be like, say, I worked for GM. GM did not/does not exacltly like their workers parking Hundai's, Fords, or other competitors cars in the GM parking lot for employees. It just does not send a very good message.

In my employement agreement with GM, there would likely be some fine print that I could not park a Ford, or other non GM car in the GM employee parking lot.

So, I find a great deal on a Mitsubishi, or Hundai, and drive it to work, park it on GM grounds. My boss notices and fires me. The firing will stand, not because I cant drive any car I want..as I can. But, I can not park a competitor car in a GM parking lot as an employee, that is prohibited, and by doing so, I have violated my employment agreement, and can be fired.

VA employees do not HAVE to work at VA. They chose to. They can work other places if they so choose. But if they do work their, they have to abide by the terms of the employment agreement, and its perfectly legal for VA to prohibit employees from discussing certain things publicly unless they are the designated VA spokesperson.

Like it or not, VA CAN and does hush its employees, and this is not a constitution violation..these people voluntarily gave up that portion of "free speech" in exchange for accepting money at VA. In other words, VA can tell employees to "shut up or get fired". It is not a violation of free speech..no one is forced to work for VA. But, when they do work for VA, they have to abide by the rules. And VA sets the rules. Its the same way at almost every company. If you go and bad mouth your boss, or your company, and get caught, that company can probably fire you. Unfortunately this is the way that VA gets away with retaliation and firing whistle blowers, sometimes. They can fight back, however, but VA does NOT have to let them back on the premises..they often have "restricted access" and only let certain people there.

Edited April 22, 2015 by broncovet

[ranger11bv]

Gotta love those loopholes!!!

[broncovet]

Interestingly, I found out from GM worker friends that some of them buy Fords or Hyundi's ON purpose, but then park them in another private lot nearby, as parking in the GM employee lot is not a mandantory condition of working there...you can take the bus, a cab, have someone drop you off, or walk. You just can not park a non gm car in the employee parking lot. They do this just because of spite. Sometimes they have to leave early, as its often a long walk.

[stinger]

Gotta love those loopholes!!!

Just a fact of the working world. It exists everywhere.

[Pete53]

NO COMMENT

[Fat]

Hmmmmnnnnnnnnnn..........