Pay Transparency Act – Update and Requirements
The Pay Transparency Act (the “PTA”) that came into effect on November 1, 2023, places new reporting and disclosure requirements on employers. The PTA and related pay tra…
Read moreTo what extent can employees complain about their employers on social media? In one of the first decisions dealing with Facebook posts, the British Columbia Labour Review Board upheld a decision by an employer, Lougheed Imports Ltd. (the “Employer”) to fire two employees (the “Employees”) for posting nasty comments about their employer on Facebook.
The Employer ultimately fired the Employees and ended their employment contracts for just cause. What did the Employees post on their supposedly “private” Facebook pages that justified firing the Employees? The Employees were alleged to have posted various degrading and sexually explicit comments about the supervisors, including the following:
Prior to firing the Employees, the Employer conducted investigatory meetings with the Employees, where both denied making the Facebook comments. Both claimed that the statements were made by others (e.g. by hackers). One of the Employees deleted his Facebook account. The next day, both Employees were fired.
The Employees were unionized workers. The Union attacked the firing of the Employees by alleging that the Employers were engaging in anti-union labour practices. The Employer defended itself by stating that the postings amounted to insubordination, and further, the postings created a hostile work environment and damaged the Employer’s reputation and business interests.
The arbitrator at the Labour Relations Board found that the Employees did in fact make those postings and that the Employer’s conduct were not motivated by anti-union sentiment. The postings on Facebook were not the same as inappropriate comments made on the floor, as these Facebook postings were damaging to the Employer’s business.
The comments were made to hundreds of people. Collectively, the Employees had approximately 477 “friends” on Facebook. Therefore, the Employees could not have had a serious expectation of privacy when publishing them on Facebook. The comments were “offensive, insulting, and disrespectful” and the parties referenced could be easily identified. This was sufficient to amount to insubordination. Termination was not disproportionate under these circumstances.
See the full decision at: Lougheed Imports Ltd. (West Coast Mazda) v. United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Local 1518, 2010 CanLII 62482 (BC LRB).
If you have a similar problem at your workplace, please contact our Employment Law Lawyers today.
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