Keith Olbermann Exits Stage Left, His Speech Curtailed

Part of the deal surrounding Keith Olbermann's exit from MSNBC apparently requires him to not talk about the agreement, and also prohibits him from being able to work in television again for a while. Though the Constitution prevents Congress from abridging our freedom of speech, there is no such prohibition for corporations, or for private deals, agreements, settlements, etc.

It is very common for settlement agreements or employment contracts to have provisions curtailing speech. Some of these provisions can be crushingly draconian. The argument here is that there has been some consideration paid for a service provided, which is the service of keeping one's trap shut. But, in reality, contractual clauses can serve as a work-around for that sometimes inconvenient First Amendment.

And then there's a whole different layer added when an employee simply feels (or has been the recipient of communication about) pressure to not speak out simply because she feels it could adversely affect her employment or promotion prospects. There certainly is some reasonable limit to things one should not say disparagingly about tone's employer. But, in most cases, it is not very reasonable to stop an employee from commenting about issues unrelated to the company.

And many companies are also trying to regulate behavior outside the workplace. Some companies are prohibiting smoking off-duty, for example. This has been ruled legal in most jurisdictions. But an extreme and really chilling example is the fast food restaurant that told employees that they should vote Republican if they wanted to stay in good graces with the company.

Keith Olbermann probably doesn't feel any of the economic pressures that the average working-class or middle-class person does regarding these issues. That departure agreement that he assented to is probably fairly lucrative.