Employee Blogging: The Growing Litigation Threat
Avoiding Direct and Vicarious Liability for Defamation, Retaliation and Discrimination
Recording of a 90-minute CLE webinar with Q&A
This seminar will examine the legal risks for employers arising from employee blogging and will offer best practices to avoid problems and liability—without violating employee rights and privacy.
Outline
- Current litigation trends
- Legal risks of under-restricting employees
- Vicarious liability for defamation and harassment
- Trade secret disclosure
- Hostile work environment claims
- Privacy issues
- Security issues
- Legal risks of over-restricting employees
- First Amendment claims
- Protection for employees under the National Labor Relations Act
- Protection for religious speech under Title VII
- State laws protecting employee off-the-job speech
- Unlawful termination claims
- Best practices for establishing and enforcing company blogging policies
- Do not allow anonymous blogging
- Establish policies for disclaimers
- Monitor blog content
- Restrict blogging about competitor companies without their permission
- Prohibit posting of confidential information
- Include statement regarding IP rights
Benefits
The panel will review these and other key questions:
- What are the main sources of liability risk for employers in employee blogging?
- How can companies legally respond to employee blogs that harass or defame others—or disparage the employer?
- How can employers avoid liability for the content of employee blogs, including those that aren't company-sponsored?
- How can employers craft and enforce policies to protect themselves from liability for employee blogging without violating employees' free speech and privacy rights?
Faculty
M. Carter DeLorme
Partner
Jones Day
He concentrates his practice in labor and employment relations litigation, dispute resolution and counseling matters.... | Read More
He concentrates his practice in labor and employment relations litigation, dispute resolution and counseling matters. He counsels clients on nonlitigation matters that are impacted by employment laws. He has given talks to industry groups on labor and employment topics.
ClosePhilip L. Gordon
Shareholder
Littler Mendelson
Mr. Gordon is the Chair of the firm's Privacy and Data Protection Practice Group. He has years of... | Read More
Mr. Gordon is the Chair of the firm's Privacy and Data Protection Practice Group. He has years of experience litigating privacy-based claims and counseling clients on all aspects of workplace privacy. He has provided advice to businesses of all sizes on surveillance of employees' electronic communications, background checks, responding to security breaches, outsourcing and compliance with HIPAA.
CloseKathryn Morris Willis
Partner
Burr & Forman
She regularly advises employers on leave issues, employee counseling, and policies and procedures. She has delivered... | Read More
She regularly advises employers on leave issues, employee counseling, and policies and procedures. She has delivered presentations on hiring issues, disability management, FMLA, and workers’ compensation.
Close