Multinational Employers Face Multiple Facebook Rulings

Recent prosecutions by the National Labor Relations Board have the employer community all a twitter over the Board's apparent social media policy. While social media law is too new and undeveloped to give a clear picture, the Labor Board's approach appears to give employees broad latitude to disparage their employer on Facebook and similar social media sites – viewing the online exchanges more like water cooler conversations among coworkers than public broadcasts to actual or potential customers.

Early indications are that foreign tribunals are taking a different approach. In several recent cases, they have affirmed the employers' right to dismiss employees for comments made in social media forums.