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Comment by flukus | Hacker News Reader

I think the position is (or at least mine is) that an organization should only be able to judge you for your actions on behalf of that organisation and that anything you do when not directly representing that organisation (like at a bar or posting on facebook) should have absolutely no bearing on your role at that organisation.

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I agree with you, up until the point where you are a public figure. That's a grey area but once you're a public figure, which Thiel was after (if not before) his RNC speech, you should be judged on your actions and speech whether or not it was related to your role at an organization. It's like newsworthiness. It's grey, but we let the media decide what is newsworthy and what isn't and we let the market decide if they're right. A lot of things the Enquirer publishes aren't newsworthy, by common standard, until the public buys enough of their tabloids to prove us wrong.

A public figure == https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_figure

Is a teacher a public figure? Can a teacher be fired by a school board for attending a rally in support of abortion?

Should they be fired for attending a similar rally against gay marriage?

I refer you to my edit where I cite wikipedia.

Your edit involves a specific definition for a specific case of defamation suits.

I don't see how being a public figure means you don't have the right of protected speech.

But you know I'll bite; your link states that you can become a involuntary public figure, you don't seek it but you still are and you are considered as one for this case.

Let's say the teacher was picked up by a news crew and made into a public figure.

Can they be fired then?

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