Houston CFO Fired for Social Media Activity
The Houston Chronicle reported today the CFO of Francesca’s was canned because he posted information about the company on Twitter and Facebook.
We have discussed the legality of firing employees for their social media conduct in detail (part one and part two). In short, in at will state like Texas, you can fire someone for a good … Continue Reading
Private Employers Can Ask for Your Login, But I Would Advise Against It [Update]
A few days ago the Associated Press ran an article about one job applicant who was asked to provide their Facebook login and profile. The story then got a lot of legs getting including a local TV News from Fox-26TV here in Houston (video below).
While private sector employers can certainly demand to see your profiles, provide … Continue Reading
Facebook Firings and Social Media Policies – Part 2
In the last post, we talked about whether you could fire someone for their Facebook posts. We used the NLRB’s recent social media memorandum discussing 14 cases as a guideline.
Today, we discuss social media policies. Why should I have one and what should I have so they don’t get me in more trouble?
Why Have One?
I … Continue Reading
Facebook Firings and Social Media Policies – What to Do? – Part 1
Surely you can fire someone who mouths off on Facebook about the company, right? After all, most employees (in Texas, anyway) are at will employees. You may even have a social media policy that warns employees not to say disparaging things about the company online. Unfortunately, it is not that clear.
The National Labor Relations Labor Board … Continue Reading
Marketing to Minors Even When You Don’t Mean To – Part 3
We’ve discussed contracting with minors and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act in our prior two parts of the series. There’s more to it than just those issues and we wrap up the series with some recent troubles from Facebook.
Facebook forbids thirteen-year-olds from creating profiles and those under 18 to have their parents’ permission. The … Continue Reading
Does the NLRB Facebook action mean I need to change my social media policies?
When discussing social media and the law issues, I often say that you can fire an at will employee for almost anything, including badmouthing the company on social media. Then, the National Labor Relations Board took an action for an employee who was fired, at least in part, for posting negative comments on Facebook.
You can … Continue Reading
Banned: Facebook, the First Amendment and Forum
In February of 2010, Karen Young opened a Facebook account. By June, she had over 4,300 “friends.” Young responded to a comment that basically asked God to kill Obama decrying the comment. Young says she was harassed in response including the defiling of her profile picture. Soon thereafter, she was banned from Facebook for violating the … Continue Reading
Social Media Policies – The Why Rather than the What
One of the most popular discussions in the area of social media law centers on social media policies. A simple Google search will produce plenty of examples. Some people think you simply copy and paste one of these examples and change the company name to your own. Then, you can check the social media policy … Continue Reading
Not just evidence from social media; but account and passwords too
This weekend, my wife and I traveled to Columbia, Missouri to watch Mizzou beat OU on Saturday night. I’m too old to rush the field, but enjoyed the trip and catching up with some of my old KOMU-TV classmates.
Yes, I wanted to brag about Mizzou’s win, but I also wanted to point out that I did … Continue Reading
The Proof is in the Social Media Pudding
There have been a bevy of cases dealing with whether social media evidence is admissible in court to prove one point or another. You have heard the stories of the accident victim claiming serious injuries posting pictures of themselves fully engaged in athletic endeavors and the philandering spouse caught on a Facebook or MySpace photo.
It … Continue Reading
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