Articles Posted in Social Media and the Workplace

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On March 12, a federal court in PA resolved the first HUGE LinkedIn account dispute case involving an employee and former employer. I’ve written about out it a few times previously. (Here, here,and here).

The latest decision is involved. And rather than pontificate — too many syllables — I’ll defer to Venkat Balasubramani, who has the full scoop here.

My laziness knows no ends. Unless those ends involve a medium-rare burger, wrapped in bacon.

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Have you checked out DriveThruHR yet?

DriveThruHR is the baby of Bryan Wempen and William Tincup, a half-hour radio show on which these two HR leaders, along with a guest, discuss the latest trends, thoughts and sentiment within the industry.

Yesterday, I was on DriveThruHR, Human Resource’s #1 Daily Radio, talking social media and the workplace, Americans with Disabilities Act, hockey, and gettin’ freaky with the mashed potatoes. Yeah, that’s right. Hockey. 

Facebook firings have been so en vogue recently. See, Exhibits A, B, and C.

But, let’s not forget that there are many other social-media platforms off of which employees can belly-flop into the unemployment pool.

{That image seemed somehow less harsh in my head. Now that I see it on screen. Oh well…}

This week has been particularly dooziful — that’s a word, look it up — with employee social media tomfoolery. You’ve got the employee asking to be fired on Facebook, HMV employees hijacking the company Twitter account to live tweet firings, a restaurant employee posting snarky customer meal receipts and, two words, one hashtag, #CrunkBear (NSFW).

So, the timing couldn’t be better for our guest blogger here at The Employer Handbook. John Barrett is a writer and employment law activist. He enjoys spending time with his family and keeping up on relevant issues for employees’ conditions in the workplace. He is representing employmentlawlayers.com with his writing.

After the jump, John brings you “Shocking Consequences of Social Media In The Workplace.”

(Want to guest blog at The Employer Handbook? Email me.)

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I’ll give you a hint.

The lede from this KTVK report is: “A single sentence posted on Facebook changed Amy McClenathan’s life forever.”

According to KTVK, Ms. McClenathan made the Facebook post because she was having a rough day near the one-year anniversary of her mother’s death. So, I won’t pretend to judge Ms. McClenathan for what she was going through that day. And even assuming the post precipitated the firing, I won’t critique the propriety of her employer’s response — she was fired, and in case you hadn’t figured that out, I’ll send Tommy back back there and hit you on the head with a tack hammer.

Jennifer O’Brien has a master’s degree in education and certifications as an elementary school teacher and supervisor.

All that education and no common sense.

You’ll see what I mean after the jump. It’s what we wordsmiths call a s&!*storm of a clusterf#%k.

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I assure you that what inspired this post had nothing to do with the facts of the case; namely:

    1. the female plaintiff claiming that her female-lawyer boss groped her; or

 

  1. the plantiff’s Facebook posts about pole-dancing and calling her breasts “milk factories”.

That’s all purely coincidental. Indeed, it sounds like something out of Costanza’s desk drawer.

Actually, I’m posting this to share a very well-reasoned social-media-discovery judicial opinion that is a big win for employers. You’ll see what I mean after the jump…

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