Gaida Zirkelbach, an attorney with Gunster’s Technology & Entrepreneurial Companies practice, was interviewed recently by David Weir on South Florida Business Report about how business is affected by the growing popularity of social media.
For example, social media policies not only need to be in place, but need to be updated, Zirkelbach says. Those policies can be too broad, she says, as was found in a recent National Labor Relations Board decision over a Costco policy disallowing disparaging statements about the company over social media.
The NLRB has ruled that firms cannot fire someone over what is considered protected activities, Zirkelbach tells Weir in the interview, such as in the case where a BMW salesperson complained about hot dogs used at a sales event in a Facebook post, and was fired for it. The NLRB said that particular communication was protected activity, she tells Weir.
Watch the October 20 interview now:
Employers have the right to curtail some statements made by employees, but when it comes to social media, they should be careful about policies, actions and limiting their liability — especially if they’re planning to move into the mobile market.
