Tag Archives: Facebook
NLRB: Nice Companies Finish Last
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has decided that a policy encouraging employees of an Illinois BMW dealership to be courteous to one another violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRA prohibits punishing employees for discussing working conditions … Continue reading
New Illinois Laws Affect Online Privacy
Recently enacted Illinois laws are intended to protect the online privacy of both public and private employees in the state. The Judicial Privacy Improvement Act (JPIA) is a legislative response to the 2005 shootings of relatives of a federal judge … Continue reading
Plug or Perish
Entrepreneur Magazine’s Daily Dose recently spoke with Damon Dunn about two recent cases on First Amendment protection for public employees’ Facebook “likes”. We previously discussed the cases here. Should a “Like” be protected as freedom of speech? Damon E. Dunn, … Continue reading
Public Employees Sue After Being Fired for Facebook “Likes”
A federal judge in Virginia recently held that “liking” a Facebook post is not sufficiently expressive to warrant First Amendment protection. One of the plaintiffs in Bobby Bland et al. v. B.J. Roberts alleged he lost his job with a … Continue reading
Toll of “Facebook Victims” Mounts
Although social media is no longer a new phenomenon, evidently even people who should know better still have not grasped that nothing on the Internet is confidential. What’s more, there is no sure demarcation between private postings and those that … Continue reading
Maryland Takes Lead in Banning Employers from Demanding FB Access
Maryland recently became the first state to ban employers from requiring prospective employees to let them access their social media accounts. The law was passed in response to protests after the state demanded corrections officers’ social media passwords to search … Continue reading
Texas Court: Internet Not Just for Voodoo Anymore
A Texan appellate court affirmed a murder conviction in a 2007 freeway shootout after finding that postings to the defendant Ronnie Tienda Jr.’s MySpace page were properly admitted against him during the trial. The case shows how far Texas judges … Continue reading
Wine Expert Sued for Yelp Retaliation
Cecelia Groark took to Yelp to complain that Bottled Grape owner Krunch Kretschmar had given away her seat to a wine tasting, which she had purchased through Groupon. Kretschmar responded on Yelp claiming that he had twice emailed Groark and … Continue reading
Should Family Facebook Connections Disqualify Judge?
A judge denied a daycare operator’s request for a new trial in her child abuse case despite allegations that the trial judge’s kids were Facebook friends with the alleged victim’s relatives. The trial judge, Daniel Rozak, had replied in an … Continue reading
Another Teacher Disciplined for Facebook Posts
A first grade teacher in Paterson, New Jersey who described herself online as “a warden for future criminals” should be fired, according to an administrative law judge. The state’s education commissioner will decide whether to accept the ALJ’s non-binding ruling. … Continue reading
Woman Charged for Faking Ex’s Facebook Page
Prosecutors continue to apply criminal statutes to online domestic disputes. This time, the state of New Jersey is reportedly prosecuting a woman for setting up a fake Facebook profile about her ex-boyfriend under an identity theft statute. The Facebook page … Continue reading
Screening Job Applicants on Facebook
Our Firm has written about the risks of screening job applicants via social media but recent reports indicate that employers are willing to take their chances. A new survey offers insight on how employers are using social media to screen job applicants. … Continue reading
Facebook Delays Timeline Rollout after Lawsuit
A Chicago-based company has sued Facebook claiming that the recently announced “Timeline” feature infringes its intellectual property. A judge reportedly declined Friday to grant an emergency order blocking Facebook from proceeding with the feature after Facebook promised not to launch … Continue reading
Facebook Knows What You Like
A CNN report last Friday partially headlined “Facebook is Always Watching” involved real-time sharing apps set to launch “in a few weeks”. But the Daily Mail reports that Facebook might have been a few steps ahead of CNN. Facebook reportedly admitted … Continue reading
Facebook Changes Spark Backlash (Again)
The Chicago Sun-Times reports on the early backlash in response to Facebook’s latest redesign. At this point the criticism focuses more on practical concerns than the usual privacy complaints, though that can change within hours. In the past, disgruntled Facebookers … Continue reading
