William J. Milani, Member of the Firm in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practice, was quoted in HR Brew in "Settlements Top $1M for Workers Fired Over Online Comments About Charlie Kirk. Should Employers Worry?," by Paige McGlauflin.
Following is an excerpt:
In the wake of the September 2025 assassination of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk, more than 600 workers were fired, placed under investigation, or otherwise reprimanded by their employers for posting about his killing on social media.
All of the settlements so far have been paid out by public employers—such as universities and state government agencies—where workers have First Amendment protections related to privately commenting on matters of public interest. In the private sector, workers generally don’t have those same protections, attorneys told us.
“Employment is at-will, employers may hire or fire at any time for any reason,” Bill Milani, an attorney with Epstein Becker Green, told HR Brew. “So it would, standing alone, be lawful for a private employer to terminate an employee for a social media post.”
That said, there are still risks and limitations for private employers as it relates to firing or otherwise reprimanding employees for social media posts. For example, some states, including California, Colorado, and New York, have off-duty conduct laws that prohibit employers from firing workers for lawful activities conducted outside of work, as long as they aren’t speaking on behalf of their employer or putting their employer’s reputation or business interests at risk. …
HR should also ensure that their policy complies with the laws in the states in which they operate, and is updated at least annually, according to Milani.
The policy should also be enforced equally, both attorneys said. An employer that fires or disciplines one employee for a politically charged social media post and takes no action when another employee does the same could face allegations of disparate treatment, Jump said.
When clients approach him about employees’ social media activity, Milani asks them if they’ve encountered similar situations before and how they responded, and, if something similar were to happen again, what they would want to do in the future.
“You’re setting a precedent here, so that perspective is critical, apart from social media issues, in terms of general non-discrimination and best practice,” he said.
