This past week the National Labor Relations Board accused a company of illegally firing an employee after she criticized her supervisor on her Facebook page. This case has been viewed as ground breaking by many lawyers. Let me explain what happened. A worker at American Medical Response of Connecticut wrote some “disparaging” and “discriminatory” remarks on her own Facebook page about her employer and supervisor. The company accused her, among other things, of violating a policy that bars employees from depicting the company “in any way” on Facebook or other social media sites in which they post pictures of themselves.
However, Lafe Solomon, the National Labor Relations Board’s acting general counsel, said, “This is a fairly straightforward case under the National Labor Relations Act — whether it takes place on Facebook or at the water cooler, it was employees talking jointly about working conditions, in this case about their supervisor, and they have a right to do that.” American Medical Response of Connecticut denied the labor board’s allegations, saying they were without merit and the employee was fired for many other complaints other than just this one intense.
I now pose questions to you. Should an employer be able to fire an employee for voicing their personal views on a semi-private site? And if so should there be a disclaimer signed upon hiring that states you will be terminated if remarks are found? Or should you just not speak about your work environment on the Internet?
I think that this may not be a straightforward case. You, as an individual, have the right to set the privacy settings as needed on Facebook, making sure that what gets on your account is only seen by who you want it to.
ReplyDeleteHowever, we must remember that at the end of the day, Facebook (with or without privacy settings) is more of a public forum, and you open yourself up to the understanding that anything that you post on a wall or pictures that are posted of you are open for the world to see.
This is not standing around the water cooler. Those conversations are kept private amongst one or two individuals and never said aloud for all...in the company or outside of the company...to hear. Posting on Facebook, could almost be equated with walking into your boss's office and making the derogatory remarks to his or her face.
I'm not sure that this is an open and shut case.
I heard about this story a couple of days ago and still don't understand what all the fuss is about. What this employee did was no different than someone who badmouths their employer in any public place - a restaurant, subway, etc. If the employer finds out that an employee is negatively portraying the company in public, they have the right to fire them. In Louisiana and other states, employers can fire employees for any reason whatsoever, or no reason at all. I think what's complicating this case is California's labor laws, which give much more protection to employees than the laws of any other state.
ReplyDeleteHasn't this woman ever heard of email?