NLRB Judge Adds to Confusion on Legality of Employers' Social Media Policies

Employment Law

In a ruling this week, an NLRB administrative law judge struck down a major employer's policies on employees' usage of social media that, among other things, tried to ensure that their postings are not mistaken as representing the views of the company.  The company's policy required that any posting regarding employment with the company include a disclaimer that the posting represented the employee's own views and not that of the company.  The judge acknowledged that the company has legitimate concerns in avoiding confusion about who speaks for the company, but he found that the policy was overbroad and could "chill" employee discussions aimed at improving their working conditions.  For similar reasons, restrictions on the use of company logos and discussions of confidential and proprietary information were also struck down as being overly broad.  As has been the case with other social media cases, there was no incidence of the employer actually enforcing the policy in a way that prevented discussions protected by the labor law.  In addition, the judge, whose decision will likely be reviewed by the five Member National Labor Relations Board, provided no guidance as to how the employer could have legally crafted its policy to achieve its legitimate goals.