Dawnmarie Souza’s comments on her Facebook page didn’t win her any points with the boss, but the rest of us owe her a debt of gratitude. In a rare test of old law on a new medium, she helped us understand just how little the online world differs from the land of bricks and mortar.
Souza’s career as a paramedic at American Medical Response of Connecticut Inc. may not have been too bright even before she called her boss various genital parts in a November 2009 Facebook posting. She had been hauled on the carpet for several incidents of allegedly rude behavior and had further rankled the emergency-response company by asking to have a union representative present when she was to be questioned about one particular customer’s complaint that she had been rude, according to a National Labor Relations Board investigation of the case. The company denied the request, and that, in turn, set off her colorful Facebook flurry. American Medical fired her 23 days later.
There’s no indication that Souza thought she was addressing anyone but her friends and co-workers with the online posts, which didn’t reveal the company’s name. “I’m so glad I left there,” responded one commenter. “I am sorry hon!” answered another. “Chin up.” But as pretty much any 15-year-old knows by now, being friends on the social-networking site is a loose concept. There are friends that you invite to your page, but, depending on your privacy settings, there are plenty of less-friendly characters who can see your information. In Souza’s case, according to the NLRB, that included the local firefighter who apparently tipped off her boss, Frank , whom she had described in less than flattering terms.
This is not behavior that will win you employee of the month. It is also not a situation likely encountered in the physical world. Workers gripe about their employers all the time, but usually to a select few people rather than a hearty slice of the Internet population. Shouldn’t it make a difference when you’ve broadcast insults to millions online rather than to a small group of friends and co-workers?
Not when it comes to labor law, according to the NLRB. The federal National Labor Relations Act prohibits employers from punishing employees, whether or not they are members of a union, for talking about wages or workplace conditions or forming a union. The idea is to ease communication among workers so they can decide whether a union is necessary.
