The well-publicized controversy over the complaint filed recently against an ambulance service for firing an employee who bad-mouthed her supervisor on her Facebook page should cause concern and be carefully watched by all employers - including those companies without unions.

As most readers know by now, the National Labor Relations Board recently filed a complaint against American Medical Response of Connecticut, alleging the company engaged in unfair labor practices by firing Dawnmarie Souza, an emergency medical technician, after Souza posted negative comments about her supervisor and the company on her private Facebook page. The NLRB’s complaint also alleges that the company refused Souza Union representation in preparing an incident report in response to a patient complaint, and threatened to terminate her for making the request. Finally, the NLRB contends that the employer’s blogging and internet posting policy was overly broad, based on the employer’s prohibitions on disparaging the company or individual supervisors, and on depicting the company on the internet in any way without permission. The case is scheduled for hearing before an administrative law judge on January 25.