It’s a win for foul-mouthed employees. The National Labor Relations Board ruled that he who calls his supervisor a “nasty motherf***er” on Facebook is still protected under the National Labor Relations Act, according to Mary Race and Christine Lyon on Morrison Foerster’s Socially Aware blog. The administrative law judge ruled that the employee’s posting, which was in reaction to a labor dispute, is considered “concerted activity” under the NLRA. This is defined as “activity by two or more employees that provides mutual aid or protection regarding terms or conditions of employment,” explain the authors.
So is there ever a situation in which an employee can lose protection under the NLRA for obscene social media use? “The NLRB demonstrated that it will draw a line in the sand, albeit a thin and distant one,” say Race and Lyon. And one case in particular demonstrates just where that line may be.
