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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
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    5

    Default Wrongfully Fired for Fully Private Facebook Page

    My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: New York

    Hi , I was fired today because of comments I made on my PRIVATE facebook page. I did not name the company in which I worked in nor do I have them listed as my employer. Someone at my job who I had as a friend on this social network went and told people what I said which was basically " I dont want to be at this place anymore , they do not pay me enough to work hard anyway. " this was told to the boss he didnt even see it. I thought to myself that isn't this freedom of speech and invasion of privacy ? I was not in any way slandering the company by name but just expressing my feelings on how crappy my job has become. The person who fired me said and I quote " I dont give a **** what you try to tell me , all I know is you were talking about this company " I continued to explain to him I am allowed to complain about anything I want and never named the company by name. He did not care. Now several hours later he had his underling call me to come back in tomorrow at noon. I am figuring that maybe he jumped the gun on getting rid of me and when he talked to company lawyers they may have told him it was not a smart move. I dont know what to do now..I definitely do NOT want to go back because of this. Is there any platform for a case ? Mind you I have been with this company over 13 years.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    9,096

    Default Re: Wrongfully Fired for Fully Private Facebook Page

    Freedom of speech protects you from governmental penalty. You were not jailed.

    Freedom of speech does not protect you from consequences of what you say. It is 100% legal for your boss to hold you accountable for what you posted on facebook.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: Wrongfully Fired for Fully Private Facebook Page

    Although the law in this area is developing still, it is developing in the direction of supporting your employer's position. The law IS upholding the right of the employer to fire an employee who makes disparaging remarks about the company or employer on their social networking pages EVEN IF they are private pages.

    Additionally, the First Amendment says that THE GOVERNMENT cannot restrict your speech. It says nothing about your employer.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
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    Somewhere near Canada
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    35,894

    Default Re: Wrongfully Fired for Fully Private Facebook Page

    Quite honestly, my advice would be this:

    Don't put anything on your social networking site that you wouldn't want your parents, grandparents, priest or employer to see.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
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    9,096

    Default Re: Wrongfully Fired for Fully Private Facebook Page

    Quote Quoting Dogmatique
    View Post
    Quite honestly, my advice would be this:

    Don't put anything on your social networking site that you wouldn't want your parents, grandparents, priest or employer to see.
    Or spouse.

  6. #6
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    Apr 2009
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    Somewhere near Canada
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    Default Re: Wrongfully Fired for Fully Private Facebook Page

    Quote Quoting cyjeff
    View Post
    Or spouse.


    LOL yes, absolutely.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Lake Chapala
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    3,043

    Default Re: Wrongfully Fired for Fully Private Facebook Page

    Quote Quoting Dogmatique
    View Post
    Quite honestly, my advice would be this:

    Don't put anything on your social networking site that you wouldn't want your parents, grandparents, priest or employer to see.
    ...especially if it's Facebook, where the definition of "private" seems to change frequently and quite arbitrarily.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Toledo, OH
    Posts
    16,307

    Default Re: Wrongfully Fired for Fully Private Facebook Page

    Quote Quoting jayc1979
    View Post
    Is there any platform for a case ?
    When you first posted, the answer was a pretty definitive No.

    Things change. Theanswer now appears to be Maybe.

    In what labor officials and lawyers view as a ground-breaking case involving workers and social media, the National Labor Relations Board has accused a company of illegally firing an employee after she criticized her supervisor on her Facebook page.

    This is the first case in which the labor board has stepped in to argue that workers’ criticisms of their bosses or companies on a social networking site are generally a protected activity and that employers would be violating the law by punishing workers for such statements.

    The labor relations board announced last week that it had filed a complaint against an ambulance service, American Medical Response of Connecticut, that fired an emergency medical technician, accusing her, among other things, of violating a policy that bars employees from depicting the company “in any way” on Facebook or other social media sites in which they post pictures of themselves.

    Lafe Solomon, the board’s acting general counsel, said, “This is a fairly straightforward case under the National Labor Relations Act — 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.”

    Read the rest of the article here.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Posts
    3,835

    Default Re: Wrongfully Fired for Fully Private Facebook Page

    Here is a link to the case Missy cites. I could not find it directly on the NLRB site.

    This employee was a member of a Union, which the NLRB has jurisdiction over, as they filed an Unfair Labor Practice.

    Although the NLRA covers non union employees at times, the complaint is likley to cause confusion to workers, union or not, about what is protected speech concerning employment conditions, etc.

    The hearing is scheduled for Jan. 2011. Maybe someone will keep on eye out for it.


    http://www.scribd.com/doc/41010696/A...-NLRB-Nov-2010

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    5

    Default Re: Wrongfully Fired for Fully Private Facebook Page

    Thank You ALL for all of the feedback. I am currently seeking a lawyer for my case as well. Someone told me to see John A. Beranbaum to see if he would take this case on. Anyone else know of any great lawyers in the field of labor and employment ?

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