Summary of Program
Employees use networking sites to communicate with one another (as well as current and potential customers). They post their daily thoughts and activities, uploading photos and, occasionally, adversely impact their employers’ business. What can an employer do to protect itself without intruding on employee rights?
Program Highlights
…
Summary of Program
Employees use networking sites to communicate with one another (as well as current and potential customers). They post their daily thoughts and activities, uploading photos and, occasionally, adversely impact their employers’ business. What can an employer do to protect itself without intruding on employee rights?
Program Highlights
…
By: James Kachmar
Those of you who attended our seminar on protecting confidential and trade secret information last Spring may recall our discussion about a trade secret misappropriation case involving a Twitter account. In that case, PhoneDog v. Kravitz, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129229 (N.D. Cal. 2011), a product news and review company, PhoneDog, claimed it issued Twitter accounts to its employees so that they could publish content for users to support PhoneDog’s business. When one employee, Kravitz, left PhoneDog, he refused to provide PhoneDog with access to the Twitter account he was assigned, changed its handle to delete references to PhoneDog, and continued to use it (with its 17,000 followers) for personal purposes.Continue Reading A Reminder to Employers of the Need for Social Media Policies
Let’s say an employee was “completely incapacitated” and needs to take leave due to a back injury. The employee is granted leave, but then terminated while on leave. This sets the perfect stage for a successful interference and retaliation claim, right? The Court in Jaszczyszyn v. Advantage Health Physician Network disagreed (full opinion may be found here: http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/12a1152n-06.pdf).Continue Reading Facebook Pictures Enough for the Sixth Circuit to Uphold the Employer’s “Honest Belief” Defense (Sara Jaszczyszyn v. Advantage Health Physician Network)
By: James Kachmar
Those of you who attended our November 15, 2012 seminar, “Risks and Benefits of Social Media and Computers in the Workplace,” heard us discuss recent actions taken by the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) regarding Social Media Use Policies adopted by employers to address the many issues that may arise with the increased use of social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) by their employees. As we mentioned, the NLRB was slow to address the issue of social media in the workplace. However, the NLRB has recently become much more active and more critical in how it views social media policies and their impact on the rights of employees to organize.Continue Reading NLRB Continues Crackdown on Company Social Media Policies
