Facebook And Workplace Privacy: New Developments And Implications For Businesses

Given the ubiquitous nature of social media and the ease with which information can be created and shared, social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter, are one of the fastest growing areas of concern for employers. These sites provide employees with a greater ability to tarnish the reputation of employers and to expose employers to additional risks, whether intended or not.

In the recent precedent-setting case, Lougheed Imports Ltd. (West Coast Mazda) v. United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, the British Columbia Labour Relations Board (the "Board") upheld the termination of two employees by a car dealership over comments they posted on Facebook about their employer.¹ The Board concluded that the employees had no reasonable expectation of privacy in comments made on social networking sites.  Further, when those comments are damaging to the employer's business or insubordinate in nature, the employer may have just cause for termination. This