Facebook is Not Your Friend: Protecting a Private Employee's Expectation of Privacy in Social Networking Content in the Twenty-First Century Workplace

Authors

Cara Magatelli

Document Type

Comment

Abstract

This Comment explores the implications SNS postings have on private employers concerning the off-duty, non-work related conduct of their employees. This argument recognizes that an employee is entitled to engage in whatever legal off-duty conduct he chooses, so long as the behavior does not damage his employer's legitimate business interests. An employer should not be able to use information gleaned from an employee's SNS postings, unrelated to an employer's business interests, to punish an employee for her choices outside the work place. Disciplining or terminating an employee for his off-duty lifestyle choices permits the morals and standards of the employer to control the employee's personal life.

Recommended Citation

Cara Magatelli, Facebook is Not Your Friend: Protecting a Private Employee's Expectation of Privacy in Social Networking Content in the Twenty-First Century Workplace, 6 J. Bus. Entrepreneurship & L. Iss. 1 (2012)
Available at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/jbel/vol6/iss1/4