Pub. 12 2015 Issue 2

O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S - H E L P I N G N E W M E X I C O R E A L I Z E D R E A M S 16 A s social media use rises among individuals, employers, too, are engaging more in social media to market clients, recruit and hire employees, and even connect their employees in different offices locally, nationally, or globally. The prevalent use of social media has a range of direct and indirect consequences for employers, including multiple business impacts of employee social media use, the development and maintenance of appropriate workplace social media policies, and maintaining compliance with discrimination, labor, and privacy laws. Below are the top five tips for employers to keep in mind when navigating employment is- sues involving social media. Tip 1: Traditional workplace claims still apply in the social media realm. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission warns employers must be weary of making any employment decisions on prohibited bas- es based upon personal information obtained from an employee’s social medial postings. EEOC Press Release, Social Media Is Part of Today’s Workplace but its Use May Raise Em- ployment Discrimination Concerns, (March 12, 2014), available at http://www.eeoc.gov/ eeoc/newsroom/release/3-12-14.cfm. More- over, employers must be able to address social media’s impact on traditional employee claims of hostile work environment, harassment, and retaliation. For example, if Employee A is post- ing harassing or derogatory posts about Em- ployee B on his personal social media account, his employer may be held liable for that con- duct. See Espinoza v. County of Orange, No. G043067, 2012 WL 420149 (Cal. Ct. App. Feb. 9, 2012). Social media posts by a manager about a fired employee could also be used to find the employer liable for a retaliation claim. Stewart v. CUS Nashville, LLC, 2013 WL 456482 (M.D. Tenn. Feb. 6, 2013). Tip 2: Update social media policies. For many employers, developing and updat- ing social media policies to address social me- dia-related issues arising in the workplace, including technology use by employees, is im- portant for at least two reasons. First, from a business perspective, such policies can serve to limit productivity lost due to employee time spent on social media; such policies should, therefore, be sufficiently clear as to what inter- net and social media use (if any) is permissible Below are the top five tips for employers to keep in mind when navigating employment issues involving social media. ALANA M. DE YOUNG Modrall Sperling Law Firm COUNSELOR’S CORNER Top Five Tips for Employers Regarding Employee Use of Social Media 5