Employer access to employee email and social media accounts is one of the hottest topics in employment law right now. Employer conduct in this area implicates numerous laws, including discrimination, whistleblowing, protected concerted activity, off-duty conduct statutes, the attorney-client privilege and, of course, invasion of privacy.
A few months ago, the District of New Jersey had the opportunity to address privacy concerns associated with employee social media postings. In Ehling v. Monmouth-Ocean Hospital Service Corp., 2012 WL 1949668 (D.N.J. May 30, 2012), the plaintiff a registered nurse, paramedic and acting president of the local union maintained a private group within her Facebook account, where only those who were her Facebook “friends” were permitted to access and view postings on her Facebook “wall.” While the plaintiff invited many of her co-workers to be her Facebook friends, she did not invite any members of management. In fact, as alleged in the complaint, significant animus apparently existed between the plaintiff and the management, allegedly stemming from the plaintiff’s union activities and her deposition testimony in a lawsuit filed by employees against Monmouth-Ocean Hospital (MONOC).
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