Biz: Rip your employer on Facebook all you want: It’s protected speech
- 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.
- National Labor Relations Board acting general counsel Lafe Solomon • Explaining why they stepped in after an employee at American Medical Response of Connecticut, an ambulance service, was fired for criticizing her employer on Facebook. (She was upset that she wasn’t allowed counsel with her union, the Teamsters, and ended up ripping on her supervisor.) It’s the first time that a worker has been defended by the board specifically for Facebook-related reasons. While American Medical Response denies the allegations and claims they’re without merit, at least one powerful law firm sent an alert out to its corporate clients informing them that this could be a big problem for them – especially if their workers have unions. source
