Facebook, Myspace, and other social networking sites are working their way in to employment litigation. Employment lawyers in New Jersey and other states that represent management are cautioning employers on the risks associated with managers and supervisors becoming too friendly with subordinates on ever so popular social networking sites such as Facebook.
In a recent article in the New Jersey Law Journal employment lawyer Shanti Atkins, president of ELT Inc., which specializes in compliance training in the workplace, pointed out that personal information that is not supposed to influence employment decisions is typically available on the social networking sites. Information such as religious affiliation, age, ethnicity, political affiliation, health problems is typically available on the sites. Employment lawyer Shanti Atkins pointed out that a boss planning to terminate an employee may see information about the employee's medical condition or frustration over religious intolerance. Atkins questions if this information will influence the manager's decision, or will it be perceived as influencing the manager.
Employers clearly need to update their policies and procedures to prevent any this information from influencing management.
