The Ambulance Company charged by the NLRB with an unfair labor practice for firing an employee for disparaging her supervisor on Facebook has settled the case. The employee had been disciplined at work and went on-line after her shift to complain about her treatment and her supervisor. Other company employees saw the comments and added their own. The NLRB took the position that on-line communications between employees about wages and working conditions are no different than other means of communications, such as telephone calls, and should be similarly protected. In this situation, the NLRB asserted that the employee was exercising her Section 7 rights for "mutual aid and comfort" and therefore was protected speech. As part of the settlement, the Ambulence Company agreed to revise its policies regarding employee on-line communications about the company. A private settlement with the affected employee was not available.
The lesson in this case for employers is that they should be extremely cautious in using on-line postings of employees in making employment decisions, particularly where the communications could be construed as protected speech about wages and working conditions.
For a copy of the NLRB press release: http://www.nlrb.gov/shared_files/Press%20Releases/2011/R-2815.pdf. For more background, see this article in the Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704422204576130631738779412.html?KEYWORDS=nlrb+facebook#articleTabs%3Darticle.
