Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T00:04:47.478Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Regulating rude: Tensions between free speech and civility in academic employment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 December 2019

Lilia M. Cortina ,
Michael G. Cortina  and
José M. Cortina
Lilia M. Cortina*
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychology and Women’s Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Michael G. Cortina
Affiliation:
SmithAmundsen, LLC, Chicago, Illinois, USA
José M. Cortina
Affiliation:
School of Business, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article addresses the tensions between calls for civility and rights to free speech in public academic employment. We begin by summarizing relevant organizational science on workplace incivility. Next come critical perspectives from other fields, asserting that civility appeals infringe on rights to freedom of expression. Following this is a review of key court decisions within the jurisprudence of free speech in the workplace, especially as it applies to academics. We also address the protections afforded by tenure and (at some institutions) unions. Bringing these streams of scholarship together, we expose predicaments faced by public universities seeking to cultivate safe and civil work environments while, at the same time, respecting faculty rights to free speech. We conclude by suggesting compromises between these conflicting aims that would allow organizations (in academia and beyond) to protect workforce dignity without infringing on the rights of reasonable people.

Keywords

respectrudenessfree speecheducational personnelorganizational behavior
Type
Focal Article
Information
Industrial and Organizational Psychology , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , December 2019 , pp. 357 - 375
Copyright
© Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice or the practice of law. The reading of this article does not create an attorney/client relationship with Michael Cortina or SmithAmundsen, LLC. All readers should consult with a legal professional regarding any questions, needs, or concerns that they have.

Special thanks to Kai Cortina, Jean Cortina, and Carlos Arévalo for their feedback on earlier drafts of this article.

References

Andersson, L. M., & Pearson, C. M. (1999). Tit for tat? The spiraling effect of incivility in the workplace. Academy of Management Review, 24(3), 452–471.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baron, R. A. (2004). Workplace aggression and violence: Insights from basic research. In Griffin, R. W. & O’Leary-Kelly, A. M. (Eds.), The dark side of organizational behavior (pp. 23–61). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Calabrese, A. (2015). Liberalism’s disease: Civility above justice. European Journal of Communication, 30(5), 539–553.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caza, B. B., & Cortina, L. M. (2007). From insult to injury: Explaining the impact of incivility. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 29(4), 335–350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138 (1983).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cortina, L. M. (2008). Unseen injustice: Incivility as modern discrimination in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 33(1), 55–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cortina, L. M., Kabat-Farr, D., Leskinen, E. A., Huerta, M., & Magley, V. J. (2013). Selective incivility as modern discrimination in organizations: Evidence and impact. Journal of Management, 39(6), 1579–1605.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cortina, L. M., Kabat-Farr, D., Magley, V. J., & Nelson, K. (2017). Researching rudeness: The past, present, and future of the science of incivility. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22(3), 299–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cortina, L. M., & Magley, V. J. (2009). Patterns and profiles of response to incivility in the workplace. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 14(3), 272–288.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Demers v. Austin, 746 F.3d 402 (9th Cir. 2014).Google Scholar
Detert, J. R., & Burris, E. R. (2007). Leadership behavior and employee voice: Is the door really open? Academy of Management Journal, 50(4), 869–884.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duffy, M. K., Ganster, D. C., & Pagon, M. (2002). Social undermining in the workplace. Academy of Management Journal, 45(2), 331–351.Google Scholar
Erie Telecomm., Inc. v. City of Erie, PA, 853 F.2d 1084 (3d Cir. 1988).Google Scholar
Feldblum, C. R., & Lipnic, V. A. (2016). EEOC Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace: Report of Co-Chairs Chai R. Feldblum & Victoria A. Lipnic. Retrieved from https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/task_force/harassment/upload/report.pdf.Google Scholar
Flaherty, C. (2014, September 9). The problem with civility. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/09/09/berkeley-chancellor-angers-faculty-members-remarks-civility-and-free-speech.Google Scholar
Foraker v. Chaffinch, 501 F.3d 231, 240 (3d Cir. 2007).Google Scholar
Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410 (2006).Google Scholar
Gorum v. Sessoms, 561 F.3d 179 (3rd Cir. 2009).Google Scholar
Hershcovis, M. S., & Barling, J. (2010). Towards a multi‐foci approach to workplace aggression: A meta‐analytic review of outcomes from different perpetrators. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31(1), 24–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hershcovis, M. S., Neville, L., Reich, T. C., Christie, A. M., Cortina, L. M., & Shan, J. V. (2017). Witnessing wrongdoing: The effects of observer power on incivility intervention in the workplace. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 142, 45–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollis, L. P. (2018). The ironic interplay of free speech and silencing: Does workplace bullying compromise free speech in higher education? Journal of Academic Freedom, 9, 2–15.Google Scholar
Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458 (1938).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kabat-Farr, D., & Cortina, L. M. (2012). Selective incivility: Gender, race, and the discriminatory workplace. In Fox, S. & Lituchy, T. (Eds.), Gender and the dysfunctional workplace (pp. 107–119). Northhampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing.Google Scholar
Keashly, L., & Neuman, J. H. (2010). Faculty experiences with bullying in higher education: Causes, consequences, and management. Administrative Theory & Praxis, 32(1), 48–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keyishian v. Bd. of Regents of the Univ. of the State of NY, 385 U.S. 589, 603 (1967).Google Scholar
Lim, S., Cortina, L. M., & Magley, V. J. (2008). Personal and workgroup incivility: Impact on work and health outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(1), 95–107.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meranze, M. (2014, September 7). The order of civility. Retrieved from http://utotherescue.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-order-of-civility.html.Google Scholar
Miner-Rubino, K., & Cortina, L. M. (2004). Working in a context of hostility toward women: Implications for employees’ well-being. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 9(2), 107–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miner-Rubino, K., & Cortina, L. M. (2007). Beyond targets: Consequences of vicarious exposure to misogyny at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(5). 1254–1269.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and National Academy of Medicine Committee on the Impacts of Sexual Harassment. (2018). Sexual harassment of women: Climate, culture, and consequences in academic sciences, engineering, and medicine. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.Google Scholar
Osatuke, K., Moore, S. C., Ward, C., Dyrenforth, S. R., & Belton, L. (2009). Civility, Respect, Engagement in the Workforce (CREW): Nationwide organization development intervention at Veterans Health Administration. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 45(3), 384–410. doi:10.1177/0021886309335067CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, C. M., Andersson, L. M., & Wegner, J. W. (2001). When workers flout convention: A study of workplace incivility. Human Relations, 54(11), 1387–1419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, C., & Porath, C. (2009). The cost of bad behavior: How incivility is damaging your business and what to do about it. London, UK: Penguin.Google Scholar
Pickering v. Bd. Of Education of Township H.S. Dist. 205, 391 U.S. 563 (1968).Google Scholar
Robinson, S. L., & Bennett, R. J. (1995). A typology of deviant workplace behaviors: A multidimensional scaling study. Academy of Management Journal, 38, 555–572.Google Scholar
Salaita v. Kennedy, 118 F.Supp.3d 1068 (N.D. Ill – E.D. 2015).Google Scholar
Schilpzand, P., DePater, I. E., & Erez, A. (2016). Workplace incivility: A review of the literature and agenda for future research. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 37, S57–S88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, J. W. (2015, April 15). The new thought police: Why are campus administrators invoking civility to silence critical speech? Retrieved from https://www.thenation.com/article/new-thought-police/.Google Scholar
Sutton, R. I. (2007). The no asshole rule: Building a civilized workplace and surviving one that isn’t. New York, NY: Hachette.Google Scholar
Tennessee Secondary Sch. Athletic Ass’n v. Brentwood, 551 U.S. 291 (2007).Google Scholar
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2017a). Leading for respect: How supervisors and managers can create respectful workplaces. Retrieved from https://eeotraining.eeoc.gov/accounts/register123/eeoc/events/website/Outline_Supervisors_Leading_for_Respect.pdfGoogle Scholar
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2017b). Respect in the workplace: Creating a respectful environment for all employees. Retrieved from https://eeotraining.eeoc.gov/accounts/register123/eeoc/events/website/Outline_All_Employees_Respect_in_the_Workplace.pdfGoogle Scholar
Van Dyne, L., Ang, S., & Botero, I. C. (2003). Conceptualizing employee silence and employee voice as multidimensional constructs. Journal of Management Studies, 40(6), 1359–1392.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walsh, B. M., & Magley, V. J. (2013, May). Testing a model of civility training effectiveness. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of Work, Stress and Health, Los Angeles, CA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, J. (2015). Academic freedom and extramural utterances: The Leo Koch and Steven Salaita cases at the University of Illinois. Journal of Academic Freedom, 6, 1–17.Google Scholar
Yamada, D. C. (2010). Workplace bullying and American employment law: A ten-year progress report and assessment. Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal, 32(1), 251–284.Google Scholar