Alabama Employment Law Report : Alabama Employment Lawyer & Attorney : Daniel J. Burnick : Sirote & Permutt Law Firm

Yesterday, the EEOC announced that it has launched a twitter account aimed at Hispanic employees and a You Tube channel.  Kimberly Smith-Brown, the EEOC's director of communications, stated that "Our Twitter en Espanol handle provides us with another tool to interact with the Spanish-speaking public and share with them helpful information about workplace discrimination....This is another example of the agency's commitment to remain accessible to the public and provide good customer service."  Twitter@EEOCespanol is now up and running, together with @EEOCNews for EEOC news in English.  The EEOC has also launched the EEOC You Tube Channel, which airs informational and historical videos in both English and Spanish. 

While the EEOC is busy launching social media sites, the Washington Post reported today that the sequester, if it continues, will impact EEOC employees by forcing furloughs.  The American Federation of Government Employees claims that employees will face furloughs of more than 8 days if the sequester continues through the end of the fiscal year.  The union claims that the furloughs will "cause the current backlog of workplace discrimination cases to grow by nearly 40 percent." 

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Over the past several years, I have often mentioned the Kravitz case when I have spoken about Social Media, Policies, and the ownership of Social Networking sites.  A brief history:  Kravitz worked for PhoneDog, and his twitter account was @phonedog.  He left, and changed the account to @noahkravitz.  He took the 17,000 followers with him.  PhoneDog had no policy about ownership of the Twitter account.  After Kravitz left, PhoneDog sued him, seeking damages of $2.50 per follower, per month, or $34,000 per month.  According to Daily Dot, the case recently settled, with the terms not being disclosed.  The Daily Dot speculated that the reason for the settlement may be that a year ago, PhoneDog had 15,000 followers, and this has increased by 12,000 over the past year.  During the same time, Kravitzs' followers have grown from 22,000 to 23,000.  Kravitz did tweet that "We have reached an agreement" and "I'm like a honey badger in a hurricane".  Although the details of the settlement could not be confirmed, Daily Dot quoted Mashable that noted "it sounds like no money is changing hands for Twitter followers."

Practice pointers.  It is important for companies to have policies in place about who owns social networking accounts when they are used on behalf of the company.  PhoneDog did not have any, and the result was an extended legal battle.  Although no money may have changed hands as the result of the settlement, it is safe to say that the real winners were the attorneys, who were probably paid a large sum for fighting the fight.  A simple policy that the Twitter account was owned by PhoneDog would probably have prevented the need for litigation.  As we approach the new year, now is a good time for companies to review and revise their policies and procedures, to bring them current with the existing business and legal environment. 

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FLSA continues to be a problem for employers. 

The Harvard Club (not affiliated with Harvard University) is an exclusive club in Boston with approximately 5,000 members.  When a member orders drinks or food, a 17% gratuity is added to every bill.  The club has a no-tipping policy.  The staffers make more than most hospitality workers.  State law provides that when a customer pays a "service charge", the customer would reasonably expect the money to go to the server in lieu of a tip.  In reality, the servers were not given the 17%.  The waitstaff sued the Harvard Club, and a settlement has been reached, pending court approval.

Meanwhile, in Alabama, there have been numerous lawsuits (although I have not counted, I would guess at least 100) against Honda Manufacturing.  These individual lawsuits are all claiming violations of the FLSA.  The time and expense that will be incurred in defending these lawsuits will be enormous.  FLSA cases continue to be among the most common filed in Federal court. As we are about to enter the fourth quarter of 2012, now is a good time for employers to review the classification of their employees and make sure they are being properly compensated.

Twitter leads to arrest and indictment of Birmingham man.

 Another stupid social media update.  According to Al.com, Jarvis Britton of Birmingham apparently tweeted, on June 28, "Free Speech? Really?  Let's test this! Let's kill the president".  Later that same day, he tweeted "I'm going to finish this, if they get me, they get me! #ohwell.  I think we could get the president with cyanide.  #MakeitSlow".  On June 29, he allegedly tweeted "Barack Obama, i wish you were DEAD!".  Secret Service agents met with him to advise him as to the seriousness of what he did, but no further action was taken. On September 14, Britton allegedly tweeted "Let's kill the president. F.E.A.R.".  He was arrested last week, and was indicted this week for threatening the life of the President. Another instance of stupidity with social networking. 

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Several weeks ago, I gave a presentation on behalf of Sterling Educational Services to a number of attorneys and HR professionals entitled "Employee Privacy In The Workplace".  I addressed a number of areas, including employee privacy, evaluating performance and employee off-duty misconduct.  During the presentation, the majority of the questions dealt with social networking and privacy issues involving the internet and other electronic devices.  Several recent artilces that appeared in the Birmingham News demonstrate how the internet and other electronic advancements continue to outpace the corporate world.  On April 15, an article by Mary Orndorff dealt with several Alabama Congressmen who use Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and Youtube.  On the same day, an article appeared concerning police and fire agences using Twitter to communicate that was published by Carrie Antlfinger with the AP.  Today, an article by Ian Rapoport appeared in the sports section about the University of Alabama football coaches using Twitter for recruiting purposes.  Another articlesappeared this week dealing with the use of GPS devices in divorce cases.

With technology continuing to advance at a rapid pace, it is advisable for employers to have the appropriate policies and procedures to deal with the use of Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Myspace, Youtube and GPS devices both on company time and off of company time.  Many disgruntled employees post their views in the public domain, which may have an adverse impact on their company.  Others post positive views, which would be beneficial to the company.  Some policies are a single paragraph, while others are multiple pages long. What it comes down to is be respectful, and if you can't say it to your mother, don't say it on the internet!!

Practice Pointer.  It is advisable for employers to have a policy tailored to their needs concerning social networking.  The policy needs to be reviewed and updated on a regular basis, as technology continues to advance.

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