When the Boss Shows You His Ballot

The Takeaway

Supreme Court ruling Citizens United removed financial limitations on how much corporations could give to political campaigns. But a lesser known part of that decision also nullified another law which restricted a corporation’s ability to advocate for certain political candidates and party platforms in the workplace. In essence, your boss can now tell you who he or she is voting for, and why. In this week’s  The Nation  magazine,  Mike Elk  broke the story about Koch Industries management sending an urgent letter to most of its 50,000 employees before the midterm elections last year, advising them on who to vote for at the polling station. Under the Citizens United decision, this is perfectly legal.  Mike Elk and Paul Secunda, associate professor of law at Marquette University Law School, who specializes in employment law discuss this trend. They both say we’ll probably be seeing a lot more of this kind of action in the 2012 election season.

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