Suspended / maybe terminated for Facebook comments...

[wulfzhed]

this past Friday I was removed from my post as security supervisor at an institution .The operaations director told my companies GM that he didnt want me back. My companies GM told me I was being transferred to another site.
On Monday, my GM called me at the new site and told me I waas being suspended for insulting comments I made regarding the director of the old site, and said the old site had a right to call for my termination.

Is this legal?

 

[army judge]

Yes, it isn't a question of being legal.

An employer doesn't need a reason to terminate your services.

You don't need to explain why you want to resign, either.

 

[Proserpina]

I'm going to maybe disagree a teeny tiny bit here given a very recent ruling out of OP's State.

Though the situation is a little different, I think OP should read this and perhaps - just perhaps - speak with an attorney in NY.

NY is apparently changing the rules

 

[esteele]

I respectfully and slightly disagree with Prosperina. The ruling from the NLRB Administrative Law Judge in the Hispanic United case -- the decision described in the article she referenced in her thread post -- did conclude that employees' Facebook postings concerning workplace conditions constituted protected concerted activity under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act.

However, nothing in the OP suggests that the original poster had a "conversation" of any stripe regarding work issues. Unless the original poster had such a conversation, neither the NLRB's recent Facebook cases nor Section 7 would appear applicable to his situation.

All workers, irrespective of whether they are unionized or not, have the right under federal law to discuss work conditions amongst themselves. If two or more employees engage in such discussion via Facebook or other electronic means, said communication is likely protected under Section 7 of the NLRA.

In this instance, though, it is not at all clear the original poster had a conversation with anyone concerning the site supervisor at the prior post. Consequently, (absent the existence of a union contract or some other contractual protection), his employer may be able to discipline or terminate him for allegedly "insulting comments" posted on the Internet to no one in particular. The key here may turn on whether he made said comments in the context of an electronic conversation with another employee.

One final point: This Section 7 protection covers employees nationwide, not just in the Empire State.