Articles Posted in Social Media and the Workplace

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I’m guessing that social media is not at the top of either side’s list of demands.

However, player tweets like this and, in particular, this one from Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall following the death of Osama bin Laden have some speculating that a new collective bargaining agreement could include restrictions on player use of social media.

What could those restrictions be? And will the players agree to them? 

More after the jump.

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Yesterday afternoon, Shaquille O’Neal (@Shaq) put an end to an illustrious 18-year NBA career in a single tweet:

shaq.jpg

As I type this post — during the second intermission of the Stanley Cup Finals — the hashtag #ShaqRetires is still trending on Twitter.

So, the question is, would you ever use social media to announce your retirement? 

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Last week, I reported that a Pennsylvania state court had ruled that a plaintiff did not have to provide access to her Facebook page during discovery by accepting a “friend” request from defense counsel. That same week, another Pennsylvania state court was asked to resolve whether a plaintiff’s “privacy rights” would trump a defendant’s request to access the plaintiff’s Facebook and MySpace accounts to discover facts relating to the plaintiff’s claim for damages.

Pennsylvania has become a hotbed of social-media-discovery litigation. Who knew?

I break down the latest decision, which I predict will be a “go-to” for defendants and courts alike, after the jump.

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As I previously reported, on May 9, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board issued a Complaint, in which it alleges that a NY non-profit company fired five employees for complaining on Facebook about working conditions. Now, Law 360 reports that the NLRB has issued a second complaint against a Chicago-area luxury car dealership alleging the company ran afoul of federal labor laws by firing a sales employee over a message he posted on Facebook.

Molly DiBianca at The Delaware Employment Law Blog brought this second complaint to my attention and you can read her write-up on it here.

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As some of you may know, word has surfaced about a Complaint that the National Labor Relations Board filed last week against a NY non-profit. The NLRB alleges that company fired five employees for complaining on Facebook about working conditions.

The NLRB has issued a press release and much has already been written about this Complaint by some great employment-law bloggers. So be sure to check out the links below:

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If, in a pending civil action, the defendant requests to Facebook “friend” the plaintiff in order to learn more about the plaintiff’s claims, must the plaintiff accept the friend request?

This is precisely the issue that a PA Court of Common Pleas recently faced.

So, what happened? Find out after the jump.

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I was considering three topics for today’s post:

  1. A teacher who was fired for watching 67 seconds of pornography;
  2. This smokin-hot cheerleader, fired for the NSFW-version of the photo on the right, who has filed a national-origin discrimination claim against the Indianapolis Colts; or
  3. A National Labor Relations Board Advice Memorandum on employee use of Twitter in the workplace.

I went with No. 3. I stand by my decision. 

Now, how do I erase my browser history?

While I figure that out, you hit jump for more on why the National Labor Relations Board found no unfair labor practice when: (a) a unionized newspaper company, (b) with no social media policy, (c) which encouraged its employees to use Twitter, fired a reporter based on a few tweets.

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More than a quarter of people surveyed from around the world are going online in their hunt for work, but many are growing nervous about the potential career fallout from personal content on social networking sites, according to a recent survey.

Highlights of this report after the jump…

 

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Earlier this week, I wrote about a nurse who was fired and denied unemployment compensation benefits because, instead of medicating a patient, she was busy posting Facebook updates about a colleague who had soiled herself.

Oy!

But that’s nothing compared to the New England emergency room doctor who was fired for posting pictures of a patient on her Facebook page.

When will people every learn? More about the Facebooking doc and some tips for employers to avoid messes like these after the jump…

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