Can criticizing the boss on Facebook get you fired?
Information may want to be free, as the old Internet adage goes--but how far does such freedom extend when it comes to criticizing your boss on social media platforms? That's the question that the National Labor Relations Board is putting before an administrative law court. NLRB lawyers are contending that a Connecticut-based ambulance service illegally fired an emergency medical technician after she criticized her supervisor on Facebook, the New York Times reports. The case could have broad implications for workers' speech rights as applied to social media. [Related: Six things you should never reveal on Facebook] According to the complaint, Dawnmarie Souza was fired after using vulgarities to ridicule her supervisor in a Facebook post. Souza also wrote, using the company's terminology for a psychiatric patient: "Love how the company allows a 17 to become a supervisor." Souza and the supervisor had clashed after the supervisor would not let a union representative help her to prepare a response to a customer's complaint about her work. The company, American Medical Response, says it has a policy that bars employees from depicting the company on Facebook and other social media sites on which they post pictures of themselves. The NLRB argues that the rule is overly broad--and that the firing of Souza violates the National Labor Relations Act, which, among other things, prohibits employers from punishing workers for discussing working conditions or unionization. The complaint notes that the comments triggered supportive responses from Souza's co-workers, as well as additional negative comments about the supervisor. "This is a fairly straightforward case under the National Labor Relations Act," a lawyer for the NLRB told the Times. "Whether it takes place on Facebook or at the water cooler, it was employees talking jointly about working conditions, in this case about their supervisor, and they have a right to do that." But American Medical Response said the firing was proper. "The employee in question was discharged based on multiple, serious complaints about her behavior," the company said in a statement. "The employee was also held accountable for negative personal attacks against a co-worker posted publicly on Facebook. The company believes that the offensive statements made against the co-workers were not concerted activity protected under federal law." An administrative law judge will begin hearing the case Jan. 25.
Facebook - 4 Answers
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1 :
one colleague of mine who worked for a large retail company complained about them on facebook he was on a management development programe and was take off it for his comments on facebook and we have since been told that the company do employ colleagues to scower sites such as facebook for key words such as company names ect and that any such status' envolving the company name will go to disaplinery and could leed to dismissal. No exactly freedom of speach no is it?!
2 :
In the UK teachers in schools can be asked to resign in certain circumstances for posting on Facebook et al. Also large companies insist that employees sign an agreement not to publish anything on the net which might be harmful (broad definition) to the company.
3 :
I don't know if you're asking this as a poll or simply to know how we think of the topic. Anyway, I think you can be sued anywhere on the Web, be it Facebook or not, if you do these things: 1. Libel 2. Copyright Infringement 3. Privacy Violations 4. Harassment 5. Breach of Contract It seems that the case falls under item No.1 so I guess, there is a chance that the boss will win the case. This is my opinion though. I think, people forget proper netiquette these days like the 2nd source below.
4 :
Honestly, I think she should get fired. I think one of the biggest misconceptions about facebook is that it is private. In no way is facebook anyway similar to a water cooler. Did you know that almost everyone on facebook is connected with one another in less than 7 degrees of separation? That is what makes websites like facebook so valuable to companies for marketing. They can post something on facebook and it could spread like wild fire across the web for little or no money. The same thing can happen to an individuals wall posts in theory. Facebook should not be thought of as a private profile that only your friends can see. Sure it is a great way to keep track of your personal friends but in many ways it is not private. In all reality it is a public blog of sorts. Would it have been worse if she went out on a public news blog and made those statement? Employees need to be aware of the impact they can have for the companies they work for by making negative statements and I truly believe that if you are a business owner you should train your employees how to act when talking about there employer so you don't cause a PR nightmare like this one.
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