NLRB's Acting General Counsel Issues Second Report on Social Media Cases

February 22, 2012

By: Sanjeeve K. DeSoyza

Last month, the Acting General Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") issued a second report on 14 social media cases recently reviewed by his office.  Although the report does not have the force of law, the report offers some insight into the NLRB's ongoing efforts to reconcile decades of federal labor law on protected employee speech under the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA") with the new frontier of Twitter, Facebook, and other social media.  Until the NLRB has issued more definitive rulings on the subject, employers should be mindful of the following in crafting their social media policies.

First, a broad "non-disparagement" clause in a social media policy is likely to be considered per se unlawful.  For example, the Acting General Counsel found a policy that prohibited "making disparaging comments about the company through any media . . ." to be unlawful because it could reasonably be construed by employees to restrict their right under Section 7 of the NLRA to discuss wages and working conditions, and it contained no disclaimer language that made clear the policy was not intended to restrict such protected activity.  Employers should avoid using broad and vague terms such as "disparaging," and should instead provide examples of prohibited conduct whenever possible.

Second, even a detailed disclaimer may not save an overly restrictive policy.  In one case, the policy instructed employees not to identify themselves as working for the employer unless they were discussing terms and conditions of employment in an "appropriate" manner.  The Acting General Counsel found the policy to be unsalvageable despite a lengthy disclaimer stating that the policy was not intended to restrict NLRA Section 7 rights and quoting NLRA Section 7 verbatim.  The Acting General Counsel determined that employees still could not discern what types of discussions the employer considered to be "appropriate" or "inappropriate."

Third, restrictions on the disclosure of confidential or other non-public information should be worded such that they cannot be reasonably interpreted to impinge upon an employee's right to discuss wages, working conditions, and other subjects protected by NLRA Section 7.  In rejecting one employer's policy which prohibited disclosure of "confidential, sensitive or non-public information concerning the company on or through company property," the Acting General Counsel determined that the language could reasonably be understood to prohibit employees from discussing subjects protected by NLRA Section 7.  In contrast, the Acting General Counsel approved a pharmaceutical employer's policy prohibiting disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, including customers' personal health information and "embargoed information" such as product launch and release dates and pending reorganizations.  He reasoned that an employee has no right to disclose "embargoed" corporate information and would understand that the remainder of the rule was intended to protect customer privacy interests and not to prohibit discussion about working conditions.

Fourth, a policy that requires employees to expressly state that their comments are their personal opinions, and not those of their employer, each and every time they post on social media sites, is regarded by the Acting General Counsel as an unlawful burden on employees' exercise of their NLRA Section 7 rights.  However, the Acting General Counsel appears to have carved out an exception for policies that require such disclaimers where an employee's post involves the endorsement or promotion of the employer's products or services.

Prior blog posts regarding the NLRB's treatment of social media cases can be found here, here, here, and here.