What are your managers posting on Facebook?

And how can it get your company in hot water?

These days, smart business is to have an employee handbook that covers social media issues for employees.  But what about your managers and supervisors?  Yes, they are still employees and are still covered under your basic handbook.  But some recent cases have brought to light how damaging personal Facebook posts can be when made by managers and supervisors.

Supervisors are agents of your company (like it or not).  Therefore anything a supervisor does that might be discriminatory or retaliatory with your employees will create liability for your company.  This even includes personal use of Facebook.  The key in any discrimination or retaliatory discharge lawsuit is evidence.  Is there any evidence that the motivation for not hiring, or motivation for termination, was improper?  With the electronic paper trail left by social media, the answer is often a resounding “yes.”

The facts in these cases can be surprising.   A Director of Operations posted while intoxicated on his personal Facebook page a tongue-in-cheek prayer that he would have the strength to not kill the employee who was suing the company.  The company president posted online what can only be described as grotesque vulgarities about the same employee.  This, combined with various verbal comments around the office, was enough to prevent the company from dismissing the lawsuit early on and forced a costly trial following extensive discovery.  A jury would now decide whether this employee was improperly terminated in retaliation for having joined an existing Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuit.  This was just one case where personal online comments were admitted as evidence in court.

When dealing with managers and supervisors, it may not be enough to simply add extra language to your employee handbook.  We recommend special training or meeting agenda items making it clear that personal posts by managers and supervisors can absolutely be used against the company to impose liability.  Most employees, even experienced supervisors, are surprised by this and may even insist that their personal Facebook posts are private and could never be used in court.  The reality is that courts are consistently admitting these personal postings as evidence.  Educating your management-level employees on this topic is a critical part of your overall compliance and risk management effort.

If your employee handbook does not address social media issues, or you have questions on training your management team about their personal online presence, contact our office today to update your handbook and discuss best practices to position your company for success.

847-705-9763 (direct)

jdvoigt@lavellelaw.com