As employment disputes commonly involve communications between or among employees, management, and customers, it should come as no surprise that social media’s role in workplace disputes has drastically increased in the last year. Indeed, recent decisions from around the country have turned on the application of Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, and blogging.
Cases have arisen in varied contexts, including post-employment obligations, ownership of handles, walls, and contacts; assessments of “concerted activity” versus insubordinate behavior under the National Labor Relations Act; and privacy and discrimination/hostile work environments claims. This article discusses recent social media cases in the context of post-employment obligations and makes recommendations for what employers can do to better protect confidential information and trade secrets.
