NLRB goes after AMR over Facebook Firing

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One day it's going in one direction, the next day the opposite. Have to say, as much as I have personal disdain for FB, this is a good development IMHO.

Company Accused of Firing Over Facebook Post

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE

Published: November 8, 2010

In what labor officials and lawyers view as a ground-breaking case involving workers and social media, the National Labor Relations Board has accused a company of illegally firing an employee after she criticized her supervisor on her Facebook page.

This is the first case in which the labor board has stepped in to argue that workers’ criticisms of their bosses or companies on a social networking site are generally a protected activity and that employers would be violating the law by punishing workers for such statements.

The labor relations board announced last week that it had filed a complaint against an ambulance service, American Medical Response of Connecticut, that fired an emergency medical technician, accusing her, among other things, of violating a policy that bars employees from depicting the company “in any way” on Facebook or other social media sites in which they post pictures of themselves.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/business/09facebook.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=ambulance%20facebook&st=cse