Judge: Social media disclaimers for employees are unlawful
An attorney weighs in on the ruling that such statements are ‘unduly burdensome’ to staffers.
How many of you have social media policies that contain a provision that reads something like this:
If you identify yourself as an associate of the Company and publish any work-related information online, you must use this disclaimer: ‘ The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent the positions, strategies or opinions of the Company.‘
Yeah, I write these disclaimers all the time for clients. Apparently, they’re unlawful—or so says an administrative law judge in this recent opinion.
‘Unduly burdensome’ to the employee
In what the administrative law judge considered to be a matter of first impression, he found that the provision above was overly broad and discouraged the rights of employees to discuss the terms and conditions of employment:
Become a Ragan Insider member to read this article and all other archived content.
Sign up today
Already a member? Log in here.
Learn more about Ragan Insider.
