4 ms·

There is no law or constitutional provision in the US that says you can’t refuse to work with someone for their political views.

roflchoppa2 7y ago
idk man it sounds like discrimination to me.
- gruez 7y ago
  It's legal to discriminate as long as it's not a protected class.
  - montagg 7y ago
    There are some states, like CA, where discrimination based on political views is illegal, but it’s practically-speaking not too hard for an employer to find a more traditional performance reason that may be related to political views. Caveat: IANAL Source: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/can-employers-discriminate-based-on-political-beliefs-or-affiliation.html https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/can-employers-discri...
    - umanwizard 7y ago
      Even then, that refers to employees specifically, and the person in question is probably not a Blizzard employees.
- ejstronge 7y ago
  Not all types of discrimination are illegal - in particular, the GP is stating that refusing to do business with people of a certain political leaning is not illegal.
- chickenpotpie 7y ago
  US law protects against discrimination for protected groups (race, religion, age, etc.). Political views are not a protected group.
- gms7777 7y ago
  Discrimination is not illegal except when it is discrimination against particular protected classes -- federally, this includes race/nationality/citizenship, religion, sex, age, disability, or veteran status. A private company is free to discriminate on the basis of political belief. That's not to say it is right or acceptable, but it isn't illegal.
falcolas 7y ago
A lawsuit doesn't depend on the law or constitution. As a separate note, the player and hosts would likely be considered to be contractors, not employees.
- umanwizard 7y ago
  A successful or even interesting lawsuit does in fact depend on the law. If you try to sue someone for violating a law that doesn't exist, they will make a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, and the judge will throw out the lawsuit.
dheera 7y ago
It's kind of unfortunate. It's like there's free speech, but the reality is almost everyone needs to work to live, and by way of working, their freedom of speech is effectively revoked. EEOC makes it illegal to discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin; why can't political views and speech said outside of the workplace be a part of that?
- baseballdork 7y ago
  Do you consider nazism a political view?
  - irrational 7y ago
    National Socialist German Workers' Party sure sounds like a political party to me.
    - baseballdork 7y ago
      I agree. I would say that it's not a mistake that political views are left out. Race, color, sex, and national origin are things that you are, not things you believe. Religion is the exception and I'm not sure how I feel about it being included. I think that it's important to not discriminate merely because someone follows a different religion, but some religions have some pretty awful beliefs. I certainly wouldn't be comfortable working with someone involved with WBC.
      - umanwizard 7y ago
        There's a joke about a guy who gets stopped at a paramilitary roadblock in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, and claims to be an atheist. The thugs respond: "Yes, but are you a Catholic atheist or a Protestant atheist?" In many societies and for many people, religion is not just a set of "things you believe", but is deeply connected with cultural and/or ethnic identity. The best example in the US might be Jews, which are either a race, culture, ethnicity, religion, or some combination of all of the above. But the same principle can be true for other groups as well.
coldcode 7y ago
In this case was there a contract between the player and Blizzard? Did this violate that contract?
- bcrosby95 7y ago
  The part of the contract they say was violated was that you cannot do anything Blizzard deems to have offended someone or bring you into public disrepute. So, yeah, I'm pretty sure he violated that. And Blizzard's response has too. It's really just a catch-all trivial to violate provision.

roflchoppa2 7y ago

idk man it sounds like discrimination to me.

gruez 7y ago
It's legal to discriminate as long as it's not a protected class.
- montagg 7y ago
  There are some states, like CA, where discrimination based on political views is illegal, but it’s practically-speaking not too hard for an employer to find a more traditional performance reason that may be related to political views. Caveat: IANAL Source: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/can-employers-discriminate-based-on-political-beliefs-or-affiliation.html https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/can-employers-discri...
  - umanwizard 7y ago
    Even then, that refers to employees specifically, and the person in question is probably not a Blizzard employees.
ejstronge 7y ago
Not all types of discrimination are illegal - in particular, the GP is stating that refusing to do business with people of a certain political leaning is not illegal.
chickenpotpie 7y ago
US law protects against discrimination for protected groups (race, religion, age, etc.). Political views are not a protected group.
gms7777 7y ago
Discrimination is not illegal except when it is discrimination against particular protected classes -- federally, this includes race/nationality/citizenship, religion, sex, age, disability, or veteran status. A private company is free to discriminate on the basis of political belief. That's not to say it is right or acceptable, but it isn't illegal.

falcolas 7y ago

A lawsuit doesn't depend on the law or constitution. As a separate note, the player and hosts would likely be considered to be contractors, not employees.

umanwizard 7y ago
A successful or even interesting lawsuit does in fact depend on the law. If you try to sue someone for violating a law that doesn't exist, they will make a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, and the judge will throw out the lawsuit.

dheera 7y ago

It's kind of unfortunate. It's like there's free speech, but the reality is almost everyone needs to work to live, and by way of working, their freedom of speech is effectively revoked. EEOC makes it illegal to discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin; why can't political views and speech said outside of the workplace be a part of that?

baseballdork 7y ago
Do you consider nazism a political view?
- irrational 7y ago
  National Socialist German Workers' Party sure sounds like a political party to me.
  - baseballdork 7y ago
    I agree. I would say that it's not a mistake that political views are left out. Race, color, sex, and national origin are things that you are, not things you believe. Religion is the exception and I'm not sure how I feel about it being included. I think that it's important to not discriminate merely because someone follows a different religion, but some religions have some pretty awful beliefs. I certainly wouldn't be comfortable working with someone involved with WBC.
    - umanwizard 7y ago
      There's a joke about a guy who gets stopped at a paramilitary roadblock in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, and claims to be an atheist. The thugs respond: "Yes, but are you a Catholic atheist or a Protestant atheist?" In many societies and for many people, religion is not just a set of "things you believe", but is deeply connected with cultural and/or ethnic identity. The best example in the US might be Jews, which are either a race, culture, ethnicity, religion, or some combination of all of the above. But the same principle can be true for other groups as well.

coldcode 7y ago

In this case was there a contract between the player and Blizzard? Did this violate that contract?

bcrosby95 7y ago
The part of the contract they say was violated was that you cannot do anything Blizzard deems to have offended someone or bring you into public disrepute. So, yeah, I'm pretty sure he violated that. And Blizzard's response has too. It's really just a catch-all trivial to violate provision.