Section 2 Constitutional Rights of Public Sector Employees

• Library: Employer-Employee Law 2008

Courts once viewed public employment as a privilege that could be conditioned on the relinquishment of constitutional rights. McAuliffe v. Mayor of City of New Bedford, 29 N.E. 517 (Mass. 1892); Adler v. Bd. of Educ. of City of New York, 342 U.S. 485 (1952). This approach was discarded by the United States Supreme Court in a series of decisions limiting a public employer’s power to extract loyalty oaths from its employees. See, e.g., Keyishian v. Bd. of Regents of Univ. of State of N.Y., 385 U.S. 589...