We have been starting to see more court decisions on the issue
of whether private social media accounts can be discovered by a
party in a lawsuit. Most of the cases, however, have been in the
context of a personal injury dispute (e.g., car accident,
slip and fall, etc.). Finally, a new case involving the discovery
of social media in an employment lawsuit has now fallen into our
lap.
In In re Penthouse Executive Club Compensation
Litigation (federal court in New York), a group of former
"entertainers in the Penthouse Executive Club" brought a
wage and hour lawsuit against their employer. In what was nothing
short of naked ambition, the employer requested that the court
compel one of the Plaintiffs to produce nine pages of Facebook
messages that she exchanged with other Plaintiffs, and with
non-parties, about the possibility of others joining the suit.
