By John Alan Doran Scherer Design Group (“SDG”) sued several of its former employees for starting a competing business (while still employed), stealing trade secrets, and stealing clients. The trial court entered an injunction against the ex-employees based on evidence that came, in part, from one of their Facebook accounts, which may or may not […]
Category: Social Media
Facebooking Misappropriated Employer Form Is Not Protected Activity
By Chance Hill On June 11, 2018, the National Labor Relations Board (Board) Division of Advice applied the Board’s new Boeing standard for assessing employer policies. The Division advised that an employer did not violate the NLRA when it discharged a pro-union employee who Facebooked a form that was “improperly taken” from a team leader’s […]
Modern Recruiting Hits a Snag
By Bill Wright The former general counsel of the EEOC under President Obama leads a team that is giving many, many employers an early holiday nightmare. A union and a class of plaintiffs are seeking damages from a class of employers; if your company uses Facebook for recruiting, your company might be a defendant in […]
♫ Let It Go, Let it Go ♫
By Beth Ann Lennon When most people think of employment law problems arising from the use of social media, they envision irresponsible employees taking to the internet to rant about their employer. However, a recent case out of Oregon shows that employers can cause just as much trouble as their employees when they decide to overshare […]
Social Media Showdown II
By Bill Wright TheBlaze, Inc. and Glenn Beck (collectively “TBI”) have squared off against Tomi Lahren over a Facebook page. As reported earlier, Lahren sued TBI, claiming among other things, that they were blocking her access to social media. TBI has responded with a counterclaim against Lahren. TBI asserts that they are in full compliance […]
Social Media Showdown
By Bill Wright Commentator and writer Tomi Lahren has filed suit in Dallas County, Texas, against Glenn Beck and TheBlaze, Inc. (“TBI”). Judging from the complaint, the issues include the defendants’ continuing exercise of control over a Facebook account. Lahren alleges that, after expressing her personal opinions on The View, the defendants stopped producing her […]
Not Just For Facebook
By Emily Keimig The issue of cross border data transfer—including employee data— that is. Four years ago, Austrian law student Max Schrems attended a semester abroad study at Santa Clara University in Silicon Valley, where he heard one of Facebook’s privacy lawyers speak. In the wake of that class, Schrems launched an attack on Facebook’s […]
Facebooker–Good Citizen or Fired?
By Doug Towns and Lori Wright Keffer Can an employee’s Facebook post be grounds for termination? The Fifth Circuit says, “Yes.” Graziosi v. City of Greenville Mississippi, No. 13-60900 (5th Cir. January 9, 2015). A police officer posted on her Facebook page and on the Mayor’s Facebook page criticizing the Police Chief for not sending […]
Another NLRB Facebook Fiasco
By Mike Grubbs The NLRB continues its preoccupation with employee use of social media. Design Technology Group, LLC d/b/a Bettie Page Clothing and Vanessa Morris, 359 NLRB No. 96 (April 19, 2013)(“Bettie Page”). In Bettie Page, three employees worked at a retail clothing store in San Francisco. The store closed later than other stores in […]
LinkedIn Trial Produces No Damages
By Bill Wright After almost two years, the trial over a LinkedIn account is over. Eagle v. Morgan, No. 11-4303 (E.D. Pa. March 12, 2013). Dr. Eagle founded Edcomm, a banking education company. Edcomm encouraged its employees to create LinkedIn accounts for company marketing purposes. Dr. Eagle created an individual LinkedIn account and used it […]