THE NEW YEAR, 2023, MARKS THE 40TH anniversary of the initial passage of Connecticut General Statutes § 31-51q. Connecticut’s employee free speech protection statute, Section 31-51q, broadly protects both public and private-sector Connecticut employees from retaliation in employment for speech that is protected under either the federal or Connecticut Constitution. While public-sector employees across the country enjoy at least some measure of free-speech protection in employment by virtue of the First Amendment’s application to public employment via 42 U.S.C. § 1983 actions, Connecticut is almost entirely unique in the broad free speech protections it affords to both public and private-sector employees pursuant to Section 31-51q.

Originally Published in Connecticut Lawyer magazine - January/February 2023 edition.