315: Free Speech, At-Will Employment, and Protecting Your Career

The line between personal expression and professional consequences has never been more blurred. With recent headlines putting workplace conduct and public statements in the spotlight, many mid-career professionals are asking a tough question: Could what I say cost me my job?

In this episode of The Mid-Career GPS Podcast, we unpack what every professional in today’s job market needs to know about free speech, at-will employment, and safeguarding your career.

You’ll learn why your constitutional right to free speech does not necessarily protect your employment and how at-will employment gives employers broad authority to terminate workers. For mid-career professionals navigating leadership roles or job transitions, this conversation is especially relevant.

We’ll cover:

• What at-will employment really means for employees and employers
• Why your words and actions outside of work can still impact your professional reputation
• How to review your employment agreement for ethics, morals, and behavioral clauses
• The importance of managing your online presence during a job search
• Practical steps for “digital cleaning” to align your online footprint with career goals
• How leaders can balance employee expression with organizational responsibility
• When it may be wise to consult an employment attorney

Whether you are actively job searching, worried about your current position, or leading a team through turbulent times, this episode gives you practical strategies to maintain both your career clarity and professional credibility.

Why This Matters for Mid-Career Professionals

If you’re between 35 and 55 and working in a leadership or management role, your career is built not only on what you do but also how you show up. Employers and hiring managers pay close attention to digital footprints and personal branding. The stakes are higher than ever—and understanding these dynamics can help you stay employable, promotable, and respected.

Resources and Next Steps

• Subscribe to The Mid-Career GPS Podcast for weekly guidance on career clarity, job search, and leadership growth.
• Join my free newsletter at johnneral.com for twice-weekly insights to help you navigate career decisions with confidence.

Chapters

• 0:00 Recent Events and Freedom of Speech
• 4:10 At-Will Employment Explained
• 8:13 Brand Reputation and Digital Presence
• 12:56 Leading Through Difficult Conversations
• 16:21 Key Takeaways and Newsletter Invitation

Transcript

John Neral: 0:00

Hey there, I am recording this episode one day before it drops because, admittedly, this isn't the first time I've recorded this episode. So much has happened over the past week and there's been a lot of conversations about our freedom of speech and our jobs. As we know, a little over a week ago, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated, and I want to be clear murdering someone because of who they are or their beliefs is absolutely wrong. Political violence and his hateful rhetoric is wrong as well, and it needs to stop. But we are a country founded on differences and the First Amendment of our Constitution protects our freedom of speech here in the United States. So when Jimmy Kimmel was pulled off the air indefinitely by ABC and Disney, many of us had conversations about whether we could lose our jobs because of what we say. So, since this is a mid-career centric podcast, I wanted to share with you a few things I know to help you navigate these difficult times and what it means for what you say and your job. Let's get started. Hello, my friends, this is the Mid-Career GPS Podcast and I'm your host, John Neral. I help mid-career professionals like you find a career they love, or love the one they have, using my proven four-step formula.

John Neral: 1:41

A lot's been happening and, as I shared in the open, this isn't the first time I tried recording this episode. I have researched and struggled and had a lot of conversations with people within my network about this topic, doing my best here to make this as quote unquote, right or accurate or best as possible as I can, because who knows what's going to happen with this story between now and when this episode drops tomorrow. But so many of us are fired up right now and we're having all of the feels about what's happening in this world and admittedly I'm struggling with all of this too, this world, and admittedly I'm struggling with all of this too. But I wanted to share these things with you about what freedom of speech means for your job and your career search, as you are continuing to build your mid-career GPS to whatever is next for you in your career. So we know that the First Amendment protects our freedom of speech, means that we are able to say what it is that we want. But the conversations have turned this week to is what we say free, but free of consequence as well? Now I want to reiterate again murdering or assassinating someone because of what they say or believe is absolutely wrong, but I want this podcast episode to focus specifically on what we have seen and heard and read about Jimmy Kimmel specifically and the decisions that ABC and Disney have taken.

John Neral: 3:25

So, for many of you who listen to this podcast, you are not independent business owners or solopreneurs. You are corporate, nonprofit, government, civil service professionals who, unless you live in the state of Montana here in the United States and, by the way, I've been to Montana, it's a wonderful state you are what is considered an at-will employee. According to Thomson Reuters, quote at-will employment means an employer can fire an employee at any time for almost any reason without incurring legal liability. Likewise, an employee has the freedom to quit at any time, unquote, and that's one of the things, just as a side note here that is often missed in this conversation about at-will employment. So we know that it's customary to give two weeks notice before vacating a position. That's just it. It is customary. As an at-will employee, you could leave that very same day, and I'm not saying to behave unprofessionally or burn a bridge or anything like that. The reality is at-will employment does work both ways.

John Neral: 4:43

But from this definition of Thomson Reuters, it is important for us to lean into their language here which says can fire an employee at any time for almost any reason without incurring legal liability. Here's what I want you to know. If you are working for a company that you do not own, you should take a moment and check your employment agreement for any morals, ethics or behavioral clauses, and in that agreement it should specifically spell out what you can do on company time and what you cannot do when you are not on company time. The thing is, if you are an employee of a particular company, you are essentially representing their brand, and in representing their brand, you must uphold their reputation. And if they deem that your reputation is not aligned with their brand and essentially puts you in any kind of professional jeopardy that could then negatively reflect back on their brand, that is a concern, and the consequences are then up to the company in terms of how they choose to handle that action of yours. Keep in mind, as an employee, you are directly responsible for representing the company's brand in a positive light and maintaining its good reputation. That's why I'm offering you here to take a moment to look at your employment agreement and review your company's policies regarding ethics, morals and behaviors, especially what it means about relating to social media posting and or event attendance.

John Neral: 6:44

Over the past week, I've had people reach out to me and say but you know, it's on my time, it shouldn't matter, but it does. You are still representing that company, even in your off time, and so that employer then has the recourse, if you will, for saying you're unfit to work here, we're going to let you go or we're going to reprimand you or suspend you or whatever that might be. It is not saying that you do not have freedom of speech to verbalize or vocalize those opinions or beliefs that are important to you. You have that, we have that, but it has to be done in the context of whether or not those actions then in turn violate the moral, ethics or behavioral clauses within your employment agreement. If you are actively job searching right now as we get ready to head into quarter four of 2025, or even if you're listening to this episode far after this date, the reality is you should be prepared that a potential employer will contact your references and they will take a look at your online presence, meaning they will look at your social media. They will look at what you post, what you comment about and, yes, they will make a judgment about that make a judgment about that Years ago.

John Neral: 8:26

We know that an organization would rely heavily on recommendations that they received from professional connections, family or friends to determine whether or not you would be a great candidate. Today, all you need to do is a simple Google or chat GPT search and a lot of things are going to come up. Be prepared that your future employer may go ahead and do that, and if there is anything you fear may put you in professional jeopardy based on what you posted or what you commented on, it might be a good time for you to do some digital cleaning. It might be a good time for you to do some digital cleaning. Now, I am not an internet expert, but certainly if it's out there, it's out there. It depends on how deep they have to dig or they have to go and find it. But if a recruiter, a headhunter, a hiring manager, an HR representative is going to just do a little search to see what comes up, you might want to do a little digital cleaning capital letters of the F if you feel it is necessary For any reason.

John Neral: 9:35

If you believe that you have been wrongly terminated or you fear you may be wrongly terminated in the workplace, then I want to offer you you should strongly consider seeking the help of an employment attorney. I am not one. I am not a legal professional, I am a career coach, career expert. If you believe you've been wrongly terminated, you may need to retain legal counsel about your specific situation. But, without a doubt, over this past week, so much has come up for so many of us. There is no doubt that many of us are dealing with a lot and we've got all of the thoughts and feelings.

John Neral: 10:20

Years ago, one of my mentors gave me this advice when I started a job. He said to me John, when you're at work, you are there to do just that work. Keep your actions professional and don't create more drama at work than what is already there. I always appreciated that advice and, yes, you have your work bestie, your close friends at work, the colleagues with whom you may close the door and have a conversation, and by all means, those things can be extremely healthy and they should happen, but they happen in the sense of that is a safe and mutually shared space. We're not making someone unintentionally or intentionally uncomfortable because of the speech or the language that we're using.

John Neral: 11:15

I'm 56 years old and I grew up in a time where you pretty much kept work at work and home at home and that you'd never between shall meet. And I know that's not always the case today, and I get that. But in this day and age, where everything seems to be looked at very critically and jobs are important because they provide some sense of financial stability and you may be job-hugging right now and not wanting to do anything to jeopardize your current employment, or you may be saying to yourself that I want to look for a new job but I may wait until 2025 or 26, excuse me, until 2025 is over. Then, in those situations, you want to make sure you are not doing anything that would give cause, reason or concern to potentially put you in professional jeopardy. And even though most of my clients are in some state of career transition, the majority of the people I work with also hold some type of leadership role.

John Neral: 12:26

And I work with people who are in leadership positions, who are very happy within their organization and they have no intention of leaving, but they hire me as their executive and leadership coach to help them level up their leadership, to show up in ways that make them more impactful in who they are and what they do. And so there are times when a client will come and they will want me to hold space for them and coach them through what it is that they're feeling or processing and thinking about that ultimately leads them to the actions and results about how they show up in the workplace. I will tell you, I have coached people who have different political beliefs than I do. I have no problem with that. I'm not getting into the box with them. I have people who hire me who share similar political beliefs and I have no problem with that, because I don't get into the box with them. This is about me helping them see their brain work through their thoughts that then, in turn, create a set of feelings that then, in turn, create a set of actions which then, in turn, produce a set of results.

John Neral: 13:40

How we lead, how we take care of the people on our team, how we hold space for them, is more important than ever. It's why I say at the end of this podcast how we show up matters, because how you are showing up in this world right now is so important and it is impacting the things that we do at work at a level we've never seen before. Can you imagine, and you probably have sitting in a meeting and you get an alert on your phone, or you've had a conversation with a family member and you have to put all of that aside because you've got to deal with the project status of a particular client or an initiative that you're working on, or you're getting ready for a product launch, or you're dealing with hiring numbers for the upcoming quarter, whatever it might be, and you've got to find a way to quiet your brain and focus on the task at hand. And so in moments like this, where tempers are high, we might find ourselves being a little boisterous, a little overzealous, a little passive, aggressive, a little snarky, and so we may need to have those conversations just to lower the temperature down a little bit. That can happen. It's how we show up, it's how we own where we are, and we recognize and build those relationships by having those kinds of intentional conversations. So, whatever you're dealing with at work, let's just acknowledge you're dealing with a lot, and it might be trickling over into your relationships at work, your relationships at home, your relationships with family or friends, and so the choice then becomes how to navigate through that.

John Neral: 15:34

It's one of the areas where I, as a coach, get to help my clients lead more impactfully. So, as I go to wrap up here with you, I want you to remember these things. Yes, we have freedom of speech, but unless you live in the state of Montana here in the United States, that you are an at-will employee, and that means you or your employer can leave for practically any reason without incurring legal liability. Secondly, you are representing the company's brand and reputation, and if the company believes you are not upholding that brand and reputation in a way that they deem to be best fit or appropriate, there may be action. And lastly, you may want to take some time and do a little digital cleaning, if you need to, and make sure that your social media and online presence reflects your professional brand in terms of what you're looking to do in your current job or in your next job.

John Neral: 16:42

Now, this week's podcast episode was obviously not planned because of so many things that had happened, and so it was, though, inspired by my free email newsletter. So the Mid-Career GPS newsletter and the Friday Focus come out twice a week. It is free to join. All you have to do is go on my website, https://johnneral. com. You will see it on the homepage. You will see it on the resources tab. You can check the show notes. See it on the homepage. You will see it on the resources tab where you can check the show notes.

John Neral: 17:17

But here's why you want to join. You join because of the conversation. You join because of the conversation and topics that happen solely within my newsletter, to help you figure out what that next job might be, how to go after that next job, get clarity about your career and level up your leadership. So if that's something you're looking for at this point in time in your career, I want to invite you in and join the free newsletter. All you got to do is go to my website, johnnarrellcom, or check the show notes. Come on in and get the newsletter.

John Neral: 17:46

The next one goes out tomorrow, which will be Wednesday. So, my dear friends, we're all dealing with a lot. Hang in there, be kind to one another and remember you will build your mid-career GPS one mile or one step at a time, and how you show up matters. Make it a great rest of your day. Make it a great rest of your day how I can help you build your mid-career GPS or how I can help you and your organization with your next workshop or public speaking event. Don't forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and follow me on social at John Darrell Coaching. I look forward to being back with you next week. Until then, take care and remember how we show up matters.