Living LAwfully

You may have heard about a recent event in which a man, Dan Goldstein, reportedly yelled at Ivanka Trump on a JetBlue flight which resulted in him being kicked off the plane, along with his husband and child. This garnered more attention when it was discovered that the husband (of the man that allegedly gave Ivanka a hard time) apparently tweeted about the event, saying that his husband was chasing down Ivanka to harass her.

The scene escalated further when the news started reporting the identity of the tweeter- a man named Matt Lasner. He was later connected to my college, Hunter College, as he is a professor there.

Following this news reveal, random people with no affiliation with Hunter College decided to review Hunter College on Facebook, giving it bad reviews. Citing this recent incident with Ivanka, many people unfairly attacked the school, degrading the institution to a 2.8 star rated school. This rating may now affect anyone who decides to look up Hunter College. It may affect the school's reputation. This rating is not an accurate portrayal of the quality of the school.

This morning I saw a petition asking for him to be fired from his job at Hunter College. The petitioner argued in the description of the petition that Lasner's "conduct is a direct representation of Hunter College" and that someone "who would harass a mother and her child simply trying to go about their day, does not deserve the honor of teaching."

I feel that this proposal is interesting- getting someone fired for something he tweeted. It is necessary to point out that the creator of the petition must have had a little bit of misinformation when he created the petition. Lasner was not the one who supposedly "harassed" Ivanka. Lasner's husband's actions do not transfer to Lasner's responsibility. Lasner was not reported to be saying anything controversial at the time when his husband raised the conflict of sitting on the same flight as Ivanka.

In fact, I question if a ruckus was even made about Ivanka's appearance on the plane. TMZ reported that Goldstein was "an out-of-control passenger" who "began verbally berating her and 'jeering' at her 3 kids." A supposed witness on the plane made a Facebook post claiming it was a relatively calm scene and he did not hear any screaming at all. TMZ may have exaggerated the story quite a bit.

I think this news sheds light on important ideas in our legal system, such as the Freedom of Speech, which many Facebook commentators seem to mention. I will have to return to this event later in time once I start learning more about the First Amendment in my Bill of Rights class next semester. Only then will I feel adequate enough to talk about the coverage the First Amendment offers. This situation also brings up the question on an employer's right to fire an employee based on off duty events. New York has certain protections for off duty conduct (some policies highlighted in the New York Labor Law, Section 201-d - Discrimination Against The Engagement In Certain Activities), however it is still complicated to determine whether or not Lasner can be fired.

I have also seen the reverse petition to NOT fire Matthew Lasner from Hunter College. I look forward to seeing what my college will say about this situation, if they will comment at all.