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Dallas Business Journal:

As the presidential race crescendos, emotions run high and discussions get heated, leaving employers to wonder about legally permissible ways to defuse political conflicts in the office so feelings don't get hurt, work gets done and lawsuits don't get filed.

First things first, employment lawyers say. The First Amendment does not apply to private employers' regulation of employees' speech and behavior in the workplace ....

...

Matt Scott, a partner in Dallas-based Kendall Law Group, said it's a good idea for employers to have a policy stressing the importance of keeping discussions between employees civil, whether they're work-related or political in nature. But practically speaking, those policies are difficult to enforce, said Scott, who heads the firm's labor and employment section.

"I don't know how you regulate that," he said. "I mean, how do you regulate people's discussions in the workplace?"

Employment Attorney Matt Scott in The Dallas Business Journal article

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http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/print-edition/2012/10/12/politics-in-the-workplace.html

© 2012 American City Business Journals