tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50038076600448721422024-03-08T14:16:23.847-06:00Social Networking Law Blog - Social Media Law, Iowa AttorneySocial Networking Law Blog . Com
Looking at the intersection of technology, social media, and the law - with a special emphasis on social media in the workplace, from the emlpoyer's perspectiveMegan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.comBlogger89125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-72263278042607503722016-03-18T09:49:00.003-05:002016-03-18T10:06:07.746-05:00"Should We Fire Him for That Post?"Commentary by Moritz in Harvard Business Review
Reprinting BrownWinick's recent announcement regarding my commentary in Harvard Business Review:
The March edition of the Harvard Business Review ("HBR") features expert commentary by BrownWinick employment law attorney, Megan Erickson Moritz, in response to the magazine's monthly Case Study.
HBR's fictional Case Studies pose challenges faced by real business leaders, with solutions and Megan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-37812697008148685502015-06-30T12:42:00.001-05:002015-07-01T13:04:35.446-05:00DOL Issues Update on New Overtime Regulations
More than a year ago, President Obama asked the Department of Labor to update its overtime regulations. Yesterday, the DOL finally announced its proposed rule. The proposed rule would extend overtime pay and minimum wage protections to almost 5 million US workers within a year of its implementation. The proposal also includes raising the salary threshold applicable to many of the exemptions fromMegan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-24183700246812681202014-08-04T18:29:00.000-05:002014-08-04T18:30:05.846-05:00LinkedIn Agrees to Pay Nearly $6 Million for Wage & Hour Violations Following DOL Investigation
The US Department of Labor today announced that the popular online professional networking company, LinkedIn Corp., has agreed to pay nearly $6 million to its employees for various wage and hour violations that were uncovered in a recent DOL investigation. Specifically, LinkedIn agreed to pay $3,346,195 in unpaid overtime back wages and $2,509,646 in liquidated damages to 359 current and Megan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-42220149104104299012014-06-26T11:04:00.000-05:002014-06-26T11:05:05.989-05:00US Supreme Court Rules Recess Appointments to NLRB Were Unconstitutional
The US Supreme Court today ruled that President Obama lacked authority to appoint three National Labor Relations Board members in 2012 during a short Senate break. All nine Justices agreed the President's so-called "recess appointments" were unconstitutional. This ruling impacts -- and probably invalidates -- hundreds of Board decisions that have been issued since the unconstitutional Megan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-52114407192703278802013-09-11T10:41:00.002-05:002013-09-11T10:47:29.521-05:00With "Friends Like These . . .
Thanks so much to my friend and colleague, Ann Holden Kendell, for contributing this blog post!
I asked Megan if I could write a guest blog post regarding a recent case from the U.S. District Court for the
District of New Jersey. This case involves the firing of an employee after her Facebook "friend" and co-worker shared her non-public entries with their mutual employer. Megan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-70338627355390628412013-01-25T10:40:00.003-06:002013-01-25T10:41:21.340-06:00Court of Appeals Rules President's NLRB Appointments UnconstitutionalThe US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit today ruled that President Obama's recess apointments to the National Labor Relations Board "were constitutionally invalid." According the the Court, the President acted unconstitutionally in the way he filled the vacancies on the NLRB.
This has the potential to cause even more confusion on the NLRB's position regarding social media Megan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-38921731725707366982012-12-29T00:00:00.000-06:002012-12-29T12:29:10.291-06:00Employers, Social Media, & Law: Recent NLRB Activity
We've seen a lot of recent NLRB action touching
on social media issues. But what’s an
employer supposed to do with all of this information? Let’s take this in some bite-sized chunks,
shall we?
First, an employer has to understand
the general kinds and sources of the guidance, decisions, or information all
the excitement has been about.
Generally, we have:
Megan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-32418737016002687662012-12-28T20:05:00.003-06:002012-12-28T20:09:20.385-06:00Another NLRB Decision: Termination of Employees for Facebook Comments Violated NLRA
The National Labor Relations Board issued another decision that impacts both union and non-union employers who fire an employee because of online activities. In Hispanics United of Buffalo, the Board concluded that an employer violated the National Labor Relations Act when it fired five employees for remarks they made on Facebook in response to a coworker’s criticisms of their performance Megan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-20446675246378952382012-08-10T11:28:00.001-05:002012-08-10T11:28:55.959-05:00ACLU & Facebook Say Facebook "Like" Button = Free SpeechThe ACLU and Facebook "Like" free speech! As do I! I mean, the First Amendment protects the F-bomb on the back of a dude's jacket. (See Cohen v. California.) Shouldn't it protect a Facebook "like," too?
What a great constitutional law question facing the Fourth Circuit!
A deputy sheriff in a Virginia lost his job after "liking" the Facebook page of his boss's Megan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-73749168066342524102012-05-29T11:43:00.002-05:002012-05-29T11:48:28.459-05:00Social Media Evidence: If It's Relevant, It's DiscoverableI've been looking at a 2011 case out of a Pennsylvania court, Zimmerman v. Weis Markets, Inc., and think it raises a nice point about discovery of social media evidence.
The plaintiff in this case was an employee of a Weis subcontractor, and sued for injuries he suffered while running a forklift at Weis. Zimmerman sought damages for injuries he suffered as a result of the accident --Megan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-29854968415346175032011-11-03T13:46:00.004-05:002011-11-03T13:54:15.116-05:00Case Against NJ Woman Charged With Identity Theft Via Facebook Will Go ForwardAfter setting up a fake Facebook profile for her ex, Dana Thornton finds herself fighting a fourth-degree identity theft charge in New Jersey courts.
She's accused of impersonating her ex-boyfriend, and making personal statements she attributed to him -- reportedly saying he was "high all the time," had herpes, and liked prostitutes.
The New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice definesMegan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-14511543321096188822011-09-11T21:50:00.000-05:002011-09-11T21:50:42.890-05:00See All Friends & Pages In Your Facebook News Feed -- For Real This TimeOK, so this post may not appear all that law-related . . . but I’ve received the same Facebook-related question from a couple different lawyer friends, so that’s enough for me to assume this is worth sharing!
You may or may not have noticed that not all your Facebook friends show up in your Facebook News Feed. Facebook’s default setting is to publish items from friends and pages you’ve recently Megan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-10568227139639992042011-08-02T13:43:00.001-05:002011-08-02T13:45:25.242-05:00Missouri Law Bans Certain Teacher/Student Online CommunicationsMissouri has just passed a law prohibiting certain online communications between teachers and students. The Amy Hestir Student Protection Action more broadly aims to protect students from sexual abuse, but the controversial provision in the law reaching student and teacher social media usage and online activity is section 162.069, which provides:
By January 1, 2012, every school Megan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-86623221091562603512011-06-21T11:51:00.001-05:002011-06-21T11:52:17.347-05:00NLRB Continues Aggressive Response to Employers' Social Media Policies It Deems OverbroadThe National Labor Relations Board recently issued two more complaints against employers that fired employees in response to the employees’ Facebook posts.
On May 9, the NLRB lodged a complaint against a non-profit organization in New York, saying it improperly fired five employees for Facebook posts that amounted to protected concerted activity. According to the press release, an employee Megan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-21963703783996398932011-06-13T12:32:00.001-05:002011-06-13T12:40:46.173-05:00Check Out A Few of Erickson's Posts for IowaBiz on Technology, Internet, & LawFor those of you who may be interested, I thought I'd share a few posts I've written recently for IowaBiz, the official blog for the Des Moines Business Record, that touch upon technology, the internet, and the law:
May 31, 2011 post on a bill signed by Iowa's Governor that authorizes a study on online gaming.
May 13, 2011 post discussing how employers mayMegan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-10052636553290699352011-04-09T14:46:00.005-05:002011-04-10T12:11:08.843-05:00Coming Up in NYC: ABA National Symposium on Technology in Labor and Employment LawAttention attorneys! The ABA National Symposium on Technology in Labor and Employment Law will be held April 27-29 at the New York University School of Law in New York, New York. The event is presented by the Technology in the Practice and Workplace Committee and co-sponsored by the NYU Law School's Center for Labor and Employment Law. The meeting kicks off with a welcome Megan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-32545115645081902232011-02-26T21:43:00.001-06:002011-02-26T21:45:49.622-06:00Update, Update, Update Your Document Retention Policies!With the increased online activity in business, companies should take time to review and update document retention policies sooner rather than later. Many companies probably already have policies addressing email systems, but these may need refreshing. Because more and more companies have become active on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, it’s also wise to review or update document Megan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-82441005333299777782011-02-08T21:14:00.003-06:002011-02-08T21:36:36.682-06:00Connecticut Employer Settles Facebook Firing Case With NLRBYikes. My apologies for the massive delay since my last couple posts. Speaking of my last couple posts . . . remember that time American Medical Response of Connecticut fired an employee after she complained about her boss on Facebook? Shortly after the termination, the NLRB’s Hartford regional office issued a complaint against AMR, alleging the firing violated federal labor law. According to theMegan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-22983038246603359622010-12-10T10:30:00.013-06:002010-12-10T10:30:00.931-06:00Social Media Policies for Employers: A Few Notes on the NLRAYesterday’s post discussed recent action by the National Labor Relations Board, pointing out that your employee’s Facebook posts or other online communications may be protected under the National Labor Relations Act. Many private employers don’t realize Section 7 of the NLRA protects the rights of all employees, regardless of union status, to engage in protected “concerted activities,” such as Megan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-24736238892586953872010-12-09T17:40:00.006-06:002010-12-10T14:57:28.722-06:00NLRA May Protect Your Employees' Facebook Rants (Regardless of Union Status!)The National Labor Relations Board's Hartford regional office recently accused an employer of engaging in unfair labor practices when the company fired an employee who complained about her supervisor on her personal Facebook page. The NLRB regional director (part of the NLRB's Office of General Counsel) filed the complaint against American Medical Response of Connecticut on OctoberMegan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-53821179886056169892010-11-09T18:05:00.002-06:002010-11-10T14:18:40.920-06:00Final GINA Regulations (Finally!) Published: Social Media & Employer Acquisition of Genetic InfoThe Equal Employment Opportunity Commission today (finally!) issued final regulations implementing Title II (the employment provisions) of the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act of 2008 (GINA). As I mentioned in an earlier post, Title II took effect on November 21, 2009, the Commission published proposed regulations last year, but the final regulations were delayed. I also pointed out Megan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-76800048718518581402010-10-14T23:59:00.003-05:002010-10-15T00:20:09.862-05:00FCC Proposes "Bill Shock" Rules to Help Wireless Users Avoid Unexpected ChargesThe Federal Communications Commission today proposed new rules that would require mobile service providers to give alerts to customers to avoid unexpected overage charges on their bills. The FCC says mobile "bill shock" (unexpected jump in the monthly bill) is an increasing problem for consumers; the Commission says it wants to help consumers better control their mobile costs. One in Megan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-50425590698763664462010-09-15T10:46:00.005-05:002010-10-20T19:39:45.337-05:00Article: Use of Social Media Evidence in Workers' Compensation LitigationProfessor Gregory M. Duhl and attorney Jaclyn Millner recently made available on SSRN a draft of their article that will be published in the Pace Law Review; it's focused on the use of social networking evidence in workers' compensation litigation.
From the paper's abstract:
. . . In this article, we examine how social networking has influenced workers’ compensation lawMegan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-49412524020171713082010-08-30T09:38:00.000-05:002010-08-30T09:38:14.431-05:00Business Bloggers & Fair Use QuestionsCheck out my first IowaBiz blog post at the Business Record's blog, where I'll be blogging on internet law issues. My first post discusses a few copyright issues facing individuals who blog for business purposes, with a focus on the fair use doctrine.Megan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5003807660044872142.post-42301557675089184132010-08-18T10:59:00.001-05:002010-08-18T11:10:24.370-05:00Hospital Workers Post Pics of Dying Man on Facebook: Highlights Need to Educate Employees on Proper Use of Social MediaSo. Not. Cool.
Sixty-year-old William Wells arrived at St. Mary Medical Center's emergency room in Long Beach with more than a dozen stab wounds. According to the Los Angeles Times, his throat had been lacerated so severely, he was almost decapitated.
The first instinct of a handful of hospital workers there that day? Rather than rush to the aid of the dying man, they took pictures of him . . . Megan J. Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16998553652228388197noreply@blogger.com0