NLRB Settles Facebook Case
American Medical Response of Connecticut, Inc. agreed to not to deny employees’ requests for union representation in the future, the board announced.
The case of an EMT who was fired by American Medical Response of Connecticut, Inc. for posting negative comments about a supervisor on her Facebook page has been settled by the National Labor Relations Board and the company. The board’s Hartford, Conn., regional office filed a complaint against the company on Oct. 27, 2010, earning national headlines.
The complaint claimed the company’s rules in its employee handbook regarding blogging, Internet posting, and communications between employees were too broad and that it had illegally denied union representation to her during an investigatory interview shortly before she posted the comments.
The terms of the settlement approved by Hartford Regional Director Jonathan Kreisberg say the company will change its rules so they don’t improperly restrict employees from discussing their wages, hours, and working conditions with co-workers and will not discipline or discharge employees for engaging in such conversations.
The company also agreed not to deny employee requests for union representation in the future and employees won’t be threatened with discipline for requesting union representation.