Can the Marlins suspend Ozzie Guillen for praising Castro?
Recently, the Manager of the Miami Marlins major league baseball team publicly praised Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. The Marlins skipper said he “loved” Castro. “I respect Fidel Castro. You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that [expletive] is still here.” Click here to see the video, “Is it fair to suspend him“
His employer suspended him for these remarks.
In Connecticut, any such suspension would be illegal. We have a statute here (C.G.S. Sec. 31-51q) which applies the protections of the First Amendment to private employers. Ordinarily, the First Amendment applies only to government employers. This law makes it illegal to punish an employer for exercising his or her First Amendment rights. Clearly, speaking out publicly about Castro constitutes an expression of Guillen’s political views and so is protected under Connecticut law.
This is yet another example of why Connecticut is an employee friendly state.