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ARTICLE · 07 DECEMBER 2010

NLRB Says Negative Facebook Posting Is Protected Activity

Day Pitney LLP
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On October 27, 2010, the Hartford Regional Office of the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") issued a complaint against American Response of Connecticut, Inc. ("AMR"), alleging that the company unlawfully terminated an employee who posted negative remarks about her supervisor on a popular social networking site, Facebook.

United StatesEmployment and HR
Wendy Johnson Lario
Wendy Johnson Lario
James Boyan
James Boyan
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On October 27, 2010, the Hartford Regional Office of the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") issued a complaint against American Response of Connecticut, Inc. ("AMR"), alleging that the company unlawfully terminated an employee who posted negative remarks about her supervisor on a popular social networking site, Facebook. The NLRB has also alleged that AMR maintained and enforced an overly broad social networking policy that violated the employee's rights under the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA").

Background

Dawnmarie Souza, an employee of AMR, was asked to provide a written response to a customer complaint about her performance. Souza allegedly requested union representation in connection with the preparation of her response. The company denied her request. Souza later posted negative comments about her supervisor on her Facebook page from her home computer. An article in The New York Times states that Souza wrote, "love how the company allows a 17 to

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