Leadership 7th Edition by Andrew DuBrin, Ann Fisher, Andrew DuBrin

Exercise 3

Brian Casey is the CEO of Builder Electro, a medium size company that manufactures and sells electronic products to the construction industry. Some of Builder Electro's products are sold in home improvement and hardware stores. The most successful product is a quartz heater that builders use when working in an unheated area, such as a garage or house under construction. Another successful product line is battery-operated drills and screwdrivers.
Casey has recently noticed some disturbing mentions of the company and its personnel on social networking sites, particularly Twitter. Some of the postings are favorable in reference to the company, such as "Had another great day doing my best for Builder Electro." Some of the unfavorable tweets are offensive to the company, and are potentially offensive to its reputation. Two examples: "Frostbite can result from using a Builder Electro space heater," and "Meet the Worst Boss of the Year at Builder Electro." Most of the offensive tweets appear to have been posted by company employees.
Brian Casey is convinced that action needs to be taken to stop the negative postings about Builder Electro. Yet he is also concerned about creating an environment in which dissent and free speech are suppressed. Casey's first thought was to consult with the company's legal counsel and then announce a company policy about Internet postings by employees that are derogatory toward the company. Many companies have such policies so an effective policy could be basically taken off the shelf. Casey thought that the entire issue of negative postings about the company could then be settled in a few days.
Casey then sent an e-mail to Naomi Colbert, the director of human resources, explaining his decision about how to curb negative tweets about Builder Electro. Naomi responded that Brian should wait before making such a big decision. She suggested specifically, "Brian, I think you should hold a series of meetings with all the vice presidents and directors before establishing a policy about these negative posts. We are talking about a complicated issue."
Brian was perplexed. He thought he could establish a policy about negative tweets quite quickly. Now he wondered if he should involve the entire executive team in making the decision.
To what extent is Casey attempting to block an employee's right to freedom of speech?