Social media sites have become the new “public square” where individuals share opinions and information about all types of political and societal events. Public sector employees, as much as anyone else, use social media to post viewpoints and to participate in public debate. Problems arise, however, when a public employee posts harsh, derogatory, defamatory, or
Public Officials Who Block Users on Social Media May Be Violating the First Amendment
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled in Garnier v. O’Connor-Ratcliffe that public officials violated their constituents’ First Amendment rights by blocking them from the public officials’ social media accounts that were used for official duties.
School District Trustees Block Two Parents on Social Media
In Garnier, Michelle O’Connor-Ratcliff and T.J. Zane,
Discontinuing A Business Relationship Can Raise First Amendment Concerns
A recent case has made clear that a government agency’s ceasing doing business with a company based on the viewpoints of the company’s owners can lead to First Amendment liability for the agency. Earlier this year, in Riley’s American Heritage Farms v. Elsasser, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (the
Government-Hosted Social Media – How To Avoid First Amendment Claims
This post appeared in April 2018. It has been reviewed and is up to date.
Social media and the First Amendment is a fascinating and quickly-developing area of the law. All types of business organizations have a social media presence, for example, a Twitter page or Facebook account, and often on their own websites
A SWAT Sniper’s First Amendment Rights Impact a Police Department’s Ability to Discipline Him For a Facebook Posting
In 2015, someone shot a police officer and a suspect was later arrested. While off-duty, a SWAT sniper commented on a friend’s Facebook post which linked to an article about the shooting. He wrote, “It’s a shame he didn’t have a few holes in him.” An anonymous tip came in about the post, there was
Annual Review of the Strange and Unusual Employment Cases
Once again we take a look at the truly odd and remarkable employment cases from near and far.
Tweet the Gift Horse in the Mouth and You Might Be Shown the Door
An American company’s annual holiday gift to Canadian employees was a bottle of barbeque sauce and a grill scraper. One of the employee
New Guidance on Employer Control Over Employee Social Media
This post was authored by Jeffrey C. Freedman.
Picture this: you are your agency’s Human Resources Director. One morning a fellow Director from another Department comes to visit you. She tells you she was sitting before her home computer the prior evening and found a Facebook post from one of her employees complaining about
Don’t Click “Block” Just Yet: Judge Rules Public Officials, Including the President, Can’t Block People on Twitter
This post was authored by Ashley Bobo.
It was only this past June that the Supreme Court emphasized the impact of social media on the modern world. The court made it clear in Packington v. North Carolina that social media sites like Facebook and Twitter exist as some of “the most powerful mechanisms available
Government-Hosted Social Media – How To Avoid First Amendment Claims
This post was authored by David Urban.
Social media and the First Amendment is a fascinating and quickly-developing area of the law. All types of business organizations have a social media presence, for example, a Twitter page or Facebook account, and often on their own websites invite the public to comment. The same is
The NLRB’s New Holding On Private Sector Free Speech (And What It Means For The Public Sector)
Last month, the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency overseeing private sector labor relations, issued its much anticipated decision in Karl Knauz Motors, Inc dba Knauz BMW and Robert Becker (“Knauz BMW”). The Board held that the BMW dealership’s “courtesy” rule, which among other things prohibited employees from making remarks that were