Blog
Facebook and Firings
September 19, 2011
We’ve seen many examples of people fired for dissing their employers on Facebook and other sites. A counter trend is brewing, however, in which some critical social media speech is protected.
An employee of a non-profit in Buffalo, New York, posted Facebook page comments that a co-worker had made about other employees not being supportive. Four other co-workers commented on working conditions, some with profanity. All were fired . . .
And then reinstated with back pay by the National Labor Relations Board, which held that discussions about the terms and conditions of their employment were protected.
Michelle Singletary of The Washington Post reports that the NLRB is seeing more of these kinds of cases. It is sure to muddy these already muddy waters.
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