A regional office of the National Labor Relations Board has filed
a complaint in the firing of five employees who complained on
Facebook about working conditions at a not-for-profit that provides
social services to low-income clients.
The NLRBfs Buffalo, New York, regional office filed a complaint
on May 9 alleging that Hispanics United of Buffalo unlawfully
discharged five employees after they criticized working conditions,
including workload and staffing issues, in Facebook postings.
This isnft the first time the NLRB has weighed in on the
discharge of an employee over the use of the popular social media
website.
The NLRBfs Hartford, Connecticut, regional office filed a
complaint in a similar situation last October.
That case was settled in February, but it was the first time that
the NLRB stepped in on employer policies regarding terminations and
the use of social media.
The latest complaint involves an employee who, in advance of a
meeting with management about working conditions, posted to her
Facebook page a co-workerfs allegation that employees did not do
enough to help the organizationfs clients, according to the
NLRB.
The initial post generated responses from other employees, who
defended their job performance and criticized working conditions,
which included workloads and staffing issues.
The five employees involved in the online discussion were fired
after Hispanics United learned of the posts on grounds that their
comments constituted harassment of the employee originally mentioned
in the post, the NLRB said in the written statement.
The NLRB regional office argues that the Facebook discussion is a
protected concerted activity within the meaning of Section 7 of the
National Labor Relations Act because it involved a conversation
among co-workers about their terms and conditions of employment.
A call to the Hispanics Unitedfs legal department for comment was
not immediately returned.
The complaint is subject to a June 22 hearing in the NLRBfs
Buffalo office unless a settlement is reached.
Filed by
Jeff Casale of Business
Insurance, a sister publication of
Workforce
Management.