Your boss can tell you how to vote thanks to the Supreme Court

Conversations by the water cooler may get a little more heated.

A 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision lifted the ban that kept private employers from discussing political matters with their employees, according to Kiplinger.

The billionaire Koch brothers, who own paper company Georgia-Pacific, encouraged 45,000 employees to vote for Mitt Romney this election.

They informed their workforce that if Obama is re-elected, then they will “suffer the consequences, including high gasoline prices, runaway inflation and other ills,” according to Kiplinger.

Though an employer is able to guide your voting decision, he or she is not allowed to threaten your job if you don’t back the right candidate.

David Siegel, chief executive officer of Westgate Resorts, told his 7,000 employees he’ll be forced into layoffs or out of business if Obama wins the election, according to a recent Deseret News article.

"If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, as our current President plans, I will have no choice but to reduce the size of this company," Siegel wrote in an open email to his employees.

Siegel’s company manages the Westgate Resort & Spa in Park City.

EMAIL: jferguson@desnews.com

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