Today, American Medical Response, an ambulance company based in Connecticut, reached a legal settlement with a woman who claimed she was fired for complaining about her boss on Facebook. The National Labor Relations Board says that the company has agreed to revise its employee handbook’s “overly broad rules” in regards to “blogging, internet posting and communications between employees”.
In November, the Labor Relations Board argued that social networks like Facebook were public forums, just like bars or break rooms, and that the National Labor Relations Act permitted employees to discuss conditions of their employment with others.
In this case, the American Medical Response employee’s comment spurred a conversation about her work environment, granting her protection under the act. All in all, the settlement spells good news for peeps who can’t help taking their gripes to their news feeds, though I’d imagine the Labor Relations Board would be less quick to defend plain old shit-talking. “Brian Lam is a tyrant?” Sure. “Brian Lam is a dickhead?” Mayyyyybe not. [ZDNet]