Quirky Questions

Real Life Employment Law

View Topic

A New Question Every Week

Nearly every day, executives and managers, and the in-house counsel and Human Resources professionals who work with them, are confronted with unanticipated questions regarding the workforce. Just when they think they have "seen it all," along comes a new and often stranger scenario involving an odd twist to an area they thought they fully understood. These individuals often find themselves back at square one when trying to construct an appropriate response and devise a creative solution to the problem presented. Sometimes these "Quirky Questions" can be resolved easily; other times, they implicate practical and legal issues that are not immediately apparent.

This Quirky Employment Questions Blog addresses unanticipated questions regarding the workforce.

We encourage you to submit your thoughts and reactions to the questions presented. We also encourage you to submit questions that you would like to see addressed, subject to these guidelines.

BLOG CONTACT INFO
E: Wirth.Gabrielle@dorsey.com
P: 714.800.1455

25 Search results

For the term "social media".

How the NLRA Applies to All Workplaces, Not Just Unionized Ones: Implications for Workplace Conduct Policies, Social Media Policies, and Employee Discipline (Including After the Supreme Court’s Abortion Decision)

 

by

When the subject of the National Labor Relations Act (the “NLRA,” or, more succinctly, the “Act”) is broached, employment lawyers often hear a familiar refrain: “The Act doesn’t apply to me because my employees are not unionized.” This widespread belief is incorrect. In actuality, all employers in the United States are subject to the Act in an important way that...

POSTED IN Employee Handbook / Policies, Labor Law
Another Social Media Report by the NLRB Offers Needed Guidance for Employer Policies

Another Social Media Report by the NLRB Offers Needed Guidance for Employer Policies

 

by

Another Social Media Report by the NLRB The National Labor Relations Board released its second Social Media Report in January of this year providing the General Counsel’s analysis of 14 challenged employer social media policies.  The Board last week released another Report reviewing seven additional employer policies. The Board alleged that six of these policies interfered with employees’ rights under...

VIEW ALL POSTS ABOUT: Labor Law, Social Media
Happy Holidays From The NLRB: Your Carefully Crafted Social Media Policy May Amount To A Per Se Violation Of The National Labor Relations Act

Happy Holidays From The NLRB: Your Carefully Crafted Social Media Policy May Amount To A Per Se Violation Of The National Labor Relations Act

 

by

Set forth below is the article from one of our partners regarding the recent NLRB Complaint, stemming from a posting on Facebook. Happy Holidays from the NLRB Depending on the study cited, as many as: • 79% of people in the U.S. age 18 and older were on-line in some fashion as of May 2010 • Of those on-line adults,...

POSTED IN Labor Law, Social Media
How Companies Are Addressing Social Media Risk

How Companies Are Addressing Social Media Risk

 

by

Social media, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc., is an evolving and growing means of communication. According to some reports, people have been spending more time using social media sites than e-mail since February 2009. See “A World of Connections,” The Economist, Jan. 28, 2010. For companies, social media presents both opportunities and risks. These risks include reputational, brand, legal, regulatory and security...

VIEW ALL POSTS ABOUT: Social Media
Book pages fanned out

The NLRB Reverses Course (again) on Employee Outbursts and Protected Concerted Activity

 

by , , &

What happens when an employee starts yelling at the boss, makes profane social media posts about work, or engages in other “abusive conduct?”  In many cases, employers can follow their own policy and impose discipline if appropriate.  But, where profanity and heated outbursts come up in the context of complaints about the terms and conditions of the employee’s job, the...

VIEW ALL POSTS ABOUT: At Will Employment, Discipline and Discharge, Labor Law, Workplace Violence
It May Be A New World For Sexual Harassment, But Many Old Rules Still Apply

It May Be A New World For Sexual Harassment, But Many Old Rules Still Apply

 

by

In the weeks since allegations began to surface regarding the sexually predatory behavior of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, sexual harassment allegations (sometimes admitted and sometimes disputed) against powerful, prominent men have been a daily feature of the headlines, involving Oscar-winning actors, sitting and would-be senators, talk show hosts, and numerous other high profile figures. Allegations against the both the current...

POSTED IN Litigation Issues, Retaliation, Sexual Harassment
“Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!”: How to get yourself fired for a Facebook post

“Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!”: How to get yourself fired for a Facebook post

 

by , &

Social media has created a minefield of concerns for both employees and employers. The news is full of stories of employees documenting their questionable off-duty conduct on social media, or posting comments containing racist or derogatory remarks. Often, the employer—or sometimes, the rest of the online community—will demand that the employee be fired. In such a scenario many employers may...

POSTED IN At Will Employment, Social Media
Second Circuit Holds Pro-Union Sentiment Outweighs Impropriety of Profanity-Laden Rant Against Supervisor, His Mother, and “His Entire ****ing Family”

Second Circuit Holds Pro-Union Sentiment Outweighs Impropriety of Profanity-Laden Rant Against Supervisor, His Mother, and “His Entire ****ing Family”

 

by &

Use of profanity by employees, whether in the workplace, outside the workplace, or on social media, presents difficult legal issues for the employer, as highlighted by a recent Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision overturning the firing of an employee who engaged in a highly profane Facebook rant against a supervisor. Although an employer has a justifiable interest in keeping...

POSTED IN Labor Law, Retaliation, Social Media
A Matter of Protocol — Rules for Departing Brokers Trying to Solicit Former Clients

A Matter of Protocol — Rules for Departing Brokers Trying to Solicit Former Clients

 

by

Question:  We operate a financial services firm that employs account executives who execute investment trades on behalf of clients.  One of our brokers recently resigned to move to a competitor firm.  With his resignation letter, he included a list of clients he plans to solicit at his new firm.  This list includes clients with whom the broker may have had...

VIEW ALL POSTS ABOUT: Common Law Claims, Post-Employment Restrictive Covenants

Quirky Question #279: Concerted Activity in 140 Characters or Less

 

by , &

Question: I am a manager in a medium-sized retailer that has locations and employees in 16 states.  The company maintains a social media policy, which was recently updated.  Last week, I noticed that one of our employees posted some pretty nasty things about the company on Twitter.  She accused the company of not treating employees fairly because some had to...

POSTED IN Food & Agriculture Industry Group, Labor Law, Social Media