Freedom of speech does not exist in Western civilisation. Being fired for anything said outside of work is outright crazy. This might actually be a blessing in disguise. I wouldn't want to work for a place that treated employees like this, so she's better off not working there.

Freedom of speech is just a small facet of freedom of action, and that goes both ways: she was free to say whatever she wanted, and her company was free to fire her.

When we talk about freedom of speech in the context of the Constitution of the United States we talk ONLY about the government's ban on prosecuting someone simply for something they said. This case passes that test with flying colors - there's no civil or criminal prosecution of Justine Sacco.

As much as we might wish otherwise, what you say has consequences, even if you do it on your own time. In this case, Sacco's stupid remarks reflected poorly on her employer, regardless of when she made them. No wonder she was let go.

Yep, the recent Duck Dynasty stupidness really shows how annoying it is when people don't understand what freedom of speech actually is.

That's a nice way of looking at it, but surely she had a contract that would have protected her against things such as this? I think this is grounds for a tribunal.

Doubtful.

I doubt she had a contract that would protect her from termination in such a manner, but if she did, she will of course get compensated accordingly. Again, not a freedom of speech issue.

I wish we were all as smart as Krem.

But alas...

Well, I know labour laws in the USA aren't as stringent as they are in Europe, but surely it is common decency that you cannot fire someone because of something they did outside of work. I think this is outrageous.