On November 11, 2010, we reported that the Hartford, CT Regional Office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a Complaint alleging that an employer illegally terminated an employee who mocked her supervisor on her personal Facebook page. Our post can be viewed by clicking here.
On February 7, 2011, the NLRB announced that it had settled the Complaint with the employer. Importantly, under the settlement, the employer agreed to revise its Internet posting policy, which the NLRB had alleged was overly broad and improperly restricted employees from discussing their wages, hours and working conditions with co-workers and others while not at work.
While this settlement was reached at the “Complaint” stage and did not established NLRB precedent, the Complaint itself is clearly an indication of how the NLRB views employees’ use of social media. Therefore, all employers, both unionized and non-union, should review and consider revising their electronic resources and Internet postings policies to ensure that those policies would not be viewed as overly broad or overly restrictive if challenged.