The federal government has settled a case that may have employers across the country re-examining their Internet policies.
The National Labor Relations Board's Hartford regional office on Monday approved a settlement in a complaint involving a Connecticut ambulance service employee who posted negative comments about her supervisor on her Facebook page during off-duty hours.
NLRB sued the company last year, arguing that the employee's Facebook comments constituted protected free speech. Under the National Labor Relations Act, employees may discuss the terms and conditions of their employment with co-workers and others.
NLRB's complaint also alleged that the company illegally denied the employee union representation during an investigatory review and maintained and enforced an overly broad blogging and Internet posting policy.
Under the settlement, the ambulance company agreed to change its blogging and Internet policy that barred workers from discussing their wages, hours and working conditions with co-workers and others while off duty. The company also agreed that it would not discipline or discharge employees for engaging in such discussions.
What are your thoughts on the case? Does the settlement give employees free rein to post disparaging remarks about their employers online? And even with those rights, would you do it?
Brittany Ballenstedt
Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
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