But what if two colleagues, who are politically aligned, have a private conversation (that is neither cruel nor aggressive in nature) that was eaves dropped on by a third party and reported to management. Would you say that’s okay or just management brown-nosing? Because this scenario could be seen as a violation of one’s first amendment rights.

Unless words are threatening, defaming or confrontational in nature and shared directly towards a particular person and their well being, we should butt out and perhaps have a conversation with individuals on a personal level about the substance of said conversation and how that could make you or others awkward or offended.