The Employer Handbook Blog

Labor board continues its war on social-media-related firings

May 20, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

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:

“NLRB Issues Another Complaint Against An Employer For Facebook-Related Terminations” by Seth Borden at Labor Relations Today

Female accountant wins right to legally masturbate at work

May 19, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Yep.

More on this amazing story after the jump.

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Court bars Facebook “friending” in discovery

May 18, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

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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Did you know? A prevailing defendant may recover e-discovery costs

May 17, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Earlier this month, a Pennsylvania federal court held that plaintiffs in a contractual-dispute matter must reimburse the defendants, who prevailed on summary judgment, for all costs that the defendants incurred in the production of e-discovery.

Now that’s a hammer!

More on this decision and how it might apply in an employee lawsuit against an employer, after the jump.

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Can you reject an applicant BECAUSE he just completed drug rehab?

May 16, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Although the Americans with Disabilities Act does not protect employees or applicants who use illegal drugs, it does protect those who are “participating in a supervised rehabilitation program, have successfully such a program, or who have otherwise been rehabilitated successfully.”

Does that mean that an employer cannot refuse to hire someone who, on the day after he completes a drug rehab program, applies for work?

Find out, after the jump.

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Give me a D-I-S-C-R-I-M-I….(you get the point)

May 13, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

I had trouble sleeping last night.

If you read yesterday’s post, you know that when deciding between a post about an NFL cheerleader who was fired for risque pictures mailed to the Indianapolis Colts versus labor law and Twitter, I chose labor law and Twitter.

***stupid Twitter!***

I won’t make the same mistake twice. So, without further ado, I have the pictures federal-court complaint of the fired cheerleader and a brief rundown of her chances of success.

***Oh, Twitter. I can’t stay mad at you. I’ll give you a foot rub — right after I finish this can of Four Loko.***

Don’t judge me. Just skip past the jump. TGIF, yo.

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PROOF that a Twitter firing can withstand NLRB scrutiny. Read on…

May 12, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

I was considering three topics for today’s post:

A teacher who was fired for watching 67 seconds of pornography;
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
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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Wage and hour claims made easier, thanks to an iPhone app

May 11, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

The U.S. Department of Labor has created apps to allow non-exempt employees to record their time on their iPhones and iPads.

For more on this app and how it may impact companies with hourly employees, read on past the jump.

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How long does an employee get to review a severance agreement?

May 10, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

If you guessed 15 minutes, you would be right, according to a recent decision from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

And you don’t need to point a gun at the employee’s head? A rusty fork in the doo-dads “knowing and intelligent” waiver based on a “totality of the circumstances” will suffice.

What are those circumstances? Find out after the jump.

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Baseball wants off-the-field conduct on the table in labor negotiations

May 9, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Steroids are so 2010.

With high profile baseball players like Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera and Cleveland’s Shin-Soo Choo getting arrested this year for DUI, Major League Baseball aims to crack down on certain off-the-field conduct that could give the sport a black eye.

More on how this could factor into the upcoming collective bargaining agreement negotiations, after the jump.

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