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Showing 41 posts in Social Media.

Gone, But Not Forgotten – A Deactivated Facebook Account Can Be Discoverable

June 24, 2015
Posted In Social Media

Courts have long grappled with social media in a legal context. The struggle to understand social media issues -- and to craft coherent applicable legal policy -- renders Crowe v. Marquette Transportation Co. Gulf-Inland, LLC amusing to show how the less-than-honest actions of an employee-plaintiff can make these difficult legal questions fairly simple for a court. More >

Vetting Employees via Social Media – Walking the Digital Tightrope

April 20, 2015
Posted In EEOC, Social Media, Social Media Policies, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”)

As Comedy Central is discovering with the new host of The Daily Show, Trevor Noah, failure to fully vet an employee’s social media activity can have unexpected consequences. At the same time, an employee’s social media profiles can yield information that may be harmful to employers in the hiring process. There are potential pitfalls to examining an applicant’s social media profiles both too closely and not closely enough, and the lines are difficult to discern. More >

Who Owns Your Business’s Social Media Accounts?

November 10, 2014
Posted In Employee Handbook, Employment Law, Online Account Protection, Online Defamation, Social Media, Social Media Ownership, Social Media Policies, Social Networking Online Protection Act (SNOP), social privacy laws

Businesses are increasingly relying on social media to establish and grow their products and/or services. While the advantages of using social media are vast (i.e., it is inexpensive, comes with a virtually global audience, and has frequent and immediate contact potential), it does come with risks. Among the dangers is failing to address who owns a social media account. This is very much still an emerging issue in the law, but some existing case law and best practices can provide guidance as to how these ownership cases develop and how they can be avoided. More >

Digital “Off-the-Record” Conversations?

March 3, 2014
Posted In Employee Handbook, Employee Misconduct, Employee Performance Reviews, Employment Law, Human Resource Department, Internet & Media Law, Internet Defamation, Job Requirement, Online Account Protection, Online Defamation, Social Media, Social Media Policies

Employers and business professionals are no strangers to “off-the-record” conversations and closed-door meetings. In today’s world, though, many long for a way to converse online without a permanent record of the conversation existing somewhere out there in Internet-land. New apps have responded to this need; think Snapchat (the popular app that allows users to set a predetermined time for how long recipients can view their photos) for text messaging. TigerText, Wickr, and Confide are just some of the self-destructing text apps that have recently emerged. Businesses, however, should proceed with caution when using these – they could not only present an air of impropriety but also be a legal hazard. More >

Facebook Friends & Workplace Enemies, cont.

November 13, 2013
Posted In Ehling v. Monmouth-Ocean Hospital Service Corp., Employee Misconduct, Employment Law, Social Media, Social Media Policies, social privacy laws

On Monday, I provided details about the Ehling case wherein an employee had made an inappropriate Facebook post and, unbeknownst to her, had that Facebook post sent to her manager by a Facebook “friend” and coworker. More >

Facebook Friends & Workplace Enemies

November 11, 2013
Posted In 2013), Employee Misconduct, Employment Law, Federal Stored Communications Act (“SCA”), Internet & Media Law, Litigation, Social Media, Social Media Policies, social privacy laws

Inappropriate Facebook posts, pictures and the like have led to many firings in recent years. A large number of employees have become smarter on social media and made a concerted effort to not “friend” a manager or boss. They think that they are keeping their online persona and work reputation separate…but is that really possible when dealing with the Internet? More >

McBrayer Attorneys' 2013 KYSHRM Conference Presentation

September 30, 2013
Posted In Human Resource Department, KYSHRM 2013, National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), SHRM, Social Media, Social Media Ownership, Social Media Policies, social privacy laws, Uncategorized

On September 25th, Amy D. Cubbage and Cynthia L. Effinger spoke at the 29th Annual Kentucky SHRM Conference, held in Louisville, KY. Their presentation, "Social Media: Strategy and Implementation. Are you protected?," focused on what companies can do to protect their businesses when issues arise (both internally and externally) with social media. The presentation included informative tips on how to create an legally sound social media policy and some new issues that employers and HR managers will soon face in the social media realm. If you missed the presentation, you can check out Amy and Cindy's presentation here and find a copy of their supporting documents here. More >

NLRB’s Advice Memorandum to Giant Foods LLC: A Giant Shock to Employers, cont.

September 5, 2013
Posted In Giant Food LLC, National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Social Media, Social Media Policies

I informed readers on Monday that the NLRB recently publicly released its Advice Memorandum to Giant Foods LLC. The company’s social media policy contained provisions that prevented employees from sharing confidential or non-public information, using the company’s logo or trademarks or filming the company premises without prior approval. More >

NLRB’s Advice Memorandum to Giant Foods LLC: A Giant Shock to Employers

September 4, 2013
Posted In Employee photographs, Freedom of Speech, Giant Food LLC, Internet & Media Law, National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Social Media, Social Media Policies

On July 11, 2013, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) released a copy of the Advice Memorandum (find it here) issued for Giant Food LLC. The Advice Memorandum, originally issued in  2012, concludes that portions of Giant Food LLC’s social media policy violates the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). More >

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