(The Center Square) – A California think tank is suing the state over a law that bans employer-mandated meetings that share the employer’s opinion on religious or political matters, saying the rule violates the First Amendment.
The law’s proponents cited a Pittsburgh company that told its workers to clock in to work the day of a 2019 visit by President Donald Trump or lose pay — attendance at the event itself was “not mandatory” — as the rationale for its law.
The California Policy Center, a state-focused think tank, says that its work is politics-focused and that its normal day-to-day meetings are now illegal under the law, Senate Bill 399.
“This restriction on the CPC’s ability to hold mandatory employee meetings about political matters important to its mission and daily work violates the organization’s right to free speech under the First Amendment,” wrote the Liberty Justice Center, which is representing CPC, in a statement.
LJC is filing for a preliminary injunction to block the law from taking effect as the lawsuit makes its way to court for a full hearing.
Bill author State Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Hayward, argued that a 2019 Trump visit to a Pennsylvania facility made the legislation necessary.
“The effectiveness of captive audience meetings has led to employers using these forced meetings for political and religious purposes,” wrote Wahab in support of her bill. “The Royal Dutch Shell company invited then-candidate Trump to give a speech at their facility in 2019. The employers sent a memo to workers stating that attendance of the Trump rally was ‘not mandatory,’ but that if they did not clock in to work that day, they would lose pay and become ineligible to receive the 16 hours of overtime pay.”
Companies that fail to comply with the law face civil lawsuits and damages, in addition to fines of $500 per employee per incident.
