Businesses Impeding Free Speech Rights in the Workplace

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees not only the freedom to speak but also the freedom not to listen. The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that "no one has a right to press even good ideas on an unwilling recipient." Nevertheless, American businesses are increasingly violating what should be the acknowledged free speech rights of their employees.Frito-Lay Inc., one of the world's largest producers of snack foods, is also one of the country's worst abusers of its employees' right not to listen.