NLRA, Social Media, Hiring & Firing

EntertainHR: Michigan’s Miscue—Is Your Company Ready for a Social Media Scandal?

FordHarrison on 6/7/2023

Only a few days after being hired by the University of Michigan’s football program as the assistant director of football recruiting, Glenn Schembechler (son of longtime Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler) resigned after his...more

Private Employer May Terminate Employee for Racially Insensitive Social Media Post

Lowenstein Sandler LLP on 5/24/2022

Last week the New Jersey Appellate Division affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit by an employee who alleged she had been wrongfully terminated based on her controversial Facebook post. In so doing, the court held that the...more

Employer “Dislike” Button—Disciplining Employees For Noxious Social Media Posts

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 9/28/2020

Seyfarth Synopsis: With the most contentious election of our lifetimes fast approaching, we might expect employees to engage in political conduct and share strong, controversial opinions while off duty, especially on social...more

Employment Law Now IV-65- The Great Debate Part 2: Employee Lawyer vs. Employer Lawyer

Cozen O'Connor on 4/17/2020

This is Part 2 of Mike Schmidt's 2-part episode pitting employee/plaintiff-side lawyer Hope Pordy, Esq. against employer/defendant-side lawyer Jeremy Glenn, Esq. to finish debating some interesting HR topics....more

How the Misconception of ‘Free Speech’ in the Workplace Persists through High-Profile Examples of Social Consciousness

FordHarrison on 10/30/2019

With the NBA season set to begin this month, so many eagerly anticipated storylines are being discussed. Would the Clippers and Lakers live up to expectations and make Los Angeles the place to be this season? How are teams...more

[Podcast]: Can-My-Employees Participate in Political Activities?

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace on 2/26/2019

In this episode of the “Can My Employees Do That?” series, partner Elise Bloom and associate Michelle Gyves discuss whether employers can lawfully limit an employee’s participation in political activities, protests, and...more

Facebooking Misappropriated Employer Form Is Not Protected Activity

Sherman & Howard L.L.C. on 7/18/2018

On June 11, 2018, the National Labor Relations Board (Board) Division of Advice applied the Board’s new Boeing standard for assessing employer policies. The Division advised that an employer did not violate the NLRA when it...more

Termination For Social Media Activity May Result In Unemployment Compensation Benefits

Troutman Pepper on 12/4/2017

Q. Our Company just terminated an employee for a social media post that was in violation of our social media policy. Will she be entitled to unemployment compensation benefits? ...more

There’s no debate: freedom of speech presents challenging legal issues for workers and employers in the age of social media

Womble Bond Dickinson on 11/3/2017

John Pueschel, partner in the Winston-Salem office of Womble Bond Dickinson, examines the limits on employee free speech and use of social media against the background of recent events at Google and in Charlottesville....more

Political Speech, Discrimination and the Law: How Employers Should Respond to Charlottesville

Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP on 8/23/2017

The recent tragic events in Charlottesville, Virginia and other news regarding the activities of white supremacists and similar groups, have served as a rude awakening for many that our national reality has shifted. These...more

Q And A On The Recent Controversy

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on 8/11/2017

On the recent uproar involving a major, major employer and its recently-terminated employee: No. 1. Is it a good idea to provide an “open forum” to employees if there are certain topics that are off limits? No. If you want...more

No Union Protection for Employees “Sick” Over No Paid Absences

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 8/1/2017

Can employees protest a company sick leave policy with an internet meme that suggests the company’s food is not safe? Not according to a recent Eighth Circuit decision. MikLin (doing business as Jimmy John’s in Minnesota)...more

Digital Disruptions: Handling Social Media Misuse By Students And Educators

Fisher Phillips on 7/15/2017

Beginning with the launch of Myspace and Facebook in the early part of the last decade, social media communication has taken the world by storm. Today, social media networking is the primary means of communicating about one’s...more

“Tantrums” Aside, the Law Leans Toward the Employee in Issues of Social Media and Free Speech

Pillsbury - Internet & Social Media Law Blog on 6/9/2017

Whether or not your friends and family get a kick out of your misery at work, that online post of yours might tick off your employer. But what rights do employers have to restrain their employees from complaining about them...more

Social Media Lesson for Employers: Recent $1.5 Million Retaliatory Discharge Verdict

Burr & Forman on 5/16/2017

On May 11, 2017, a federal jury in Charlotte, North Carolina awarded a former fire department employee, Crystal Eschert, a $1.5 million verdict in a retaliatory discharge lawsuit that teaches powerful lessons in today’s...more

Employer Cannot Fire Employees For Obscenity-Laced Facebook Posts During Union Organizing Campaign

Tonkon Torp LLP on 5/16/2017

Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act protects employees who engage in concerted activities for purposes of collective bargaining or for mutual aid and protection. How far that protection extends was tested in NLRB v....more

Oh F**k: Employee’s Profane Facebook Post is Protected Activity

Orrick - Employment Law and Litigation on 5/5/2017

On April 21, 2017, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) ruling that an employer violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or Act) when it discharged a catering...more

Second Circuit Holds NLRB Did Not Err in its Finding that Facebook Posting that Supervisor is a “Nasty Mother Fer” and “F...

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 5/1/2017

Seyfarth Synopsis: The Second Circuit agrees with the Board that the use of profanity in a Facebook post was not “opprobrious enough” to lose the NLRA’s protections and justify the employer’s termination of the employee....more

The National Labor Relations Act › Social Media › Hiring & Firing