Yes, of course.
Employment is a contract between employer and employee.
As luck would have it, I was just discussing that with steelie. His point about there being an implied contract is very good.
it is likely that Allstate violated the employment contract with this employee by violating his 1st Amendment rights.
Correct me if I'm wrong but, I am under the impression that the First Amendment protects us only from the government, not from our employers. For instance, Allstate is not required by law to allow its employees to express their opinions on company property. Mr. Barber is not free to post his anti-homo articles on his boss's door, on the bathroom walls, or to speak his mind to whomever happens to be walking through the halls. If Allstate violated the (implied) employment contract, it happened when it fired him without just cause.
The man is not the property of the employee, no matter how you might want him to be.
I believe I clarified that in a previous post.
And as a conservative, surely you aren't suggesting that the employment contract is superceded by the employer's "job" rights? (since you keep repeating the chant that the job belongs to the company.)
Please refer to my reply #52 to steelie.
You are correct and I was wrong. Substitute Civil Rights for 1st Amendment Rights and the argument holds.
That settled, I think the debate is over. Allstate loses this one.