Even though we are only in the third week of April, I am ready to declare that we have already seen the social-media #fail of 2014. From Fox News:
US Airways said it was investigating a pornographic tweet on Tuesday sent on its Twitter account in response to a customer complaint about a flight delay, which went viral on social media.
US Airways issued an apology on Monday immediately after deleting the tweeted photograph of a naked woman lying on a bed with a toy airplane between her legs, said Davien Anderson, spokesman for US Airways.
To be accurate, “between her legs” is a bit of an understatement.
Meanwhile, Jezebel reports, “It was an honest mistake. No one is getting fired.” Honest mistakes happen, both in the privacy of the workplace and in public on social media. The important lesson is how you handle it. Do you punish the employee? Or do you use the mistake as a teachable moment for all of your employees. In my experience, you get much more mileage from the latter.
Here’s the rest of what I read this week:
Discrimination
- Seven Signs of Age Harassment — from Mike Haberman’s Omega HR Solutions
- The ADA may require companies to accommodate employee theft. Yep, stealing. — from Eric Meyer’s The Employer Handbook Blog
- Affirmative Action Plans: Does Your Company Need One? — from ERC Insights Blog
- The EEOC Loses Background Check Battle In The 6th Circuit — from Ohio HR Law
- Age Discrimination Cases Can be Easy to Prove — from The Blue Ink
- Are Pre-Employment Credit Checks Discriminatory? — from Atlanta Employment Lawyer Blog
- Employment Law IQ: Can a Church Employee be Fired for Having an Abortion? — from Southwest Florida HR Law & Solutions
- Is Stuttering A “Disability?” — from Employment Discrimination Report
- The ENDA Title VII As We Know It: Why House Republicans Should Pass The Employment Non-Discrimination Act — from Above the Law
Social Media & Workplace Technology
- Ten (+4 More) People to Follow on Twitter for Labor and Employment Law — from Dan Schwartz’s Connecticut Employment Law Blog
- Is It Time to Reconsider Your Personal Email Policy? — from Molly DiBianca’s Delaware Employment Law Blog
- Step Away From the Text Messages — from Evil HR Lady, Suzanne Lucas
- Do Email Bans Derail Workplace Flexibility? — from Families and Work Institute Blog
- Should you have the right to turn off your messaging — or your iPhone! — at the end of the workday? — from TiPb
- 8 Ways Not to Manage Your Email (and 5 and a Half Tactics that Work) — from Harvard Business Review
- Is Your Company’s Culture In Conflict With Social Media Trends? — from Fistful of Talent
- Employers and Social Media — from The D & O Diary
HR & Employee Relations
- Who needs HR? We all do. — from Robin Shea’s Employment and Labor Insider
- Finding the Right Chief Compliance Officer — from Corporate Counsel
- Survey Reveals Criminal Offenses That Concern Employers — from employeescreenIQ Blog
- Company Fights Suit by Worker Over ‘Potato Gun’ Explosion He Helped Set Off — from WSJ.com: Law Blog
Wage & Hour
- Unpaid internships are common, but are they legal? — from MonsterThinking
- Dollar Dollar bills y’all. Wage Payments under the FLSA. — from Michigan Employment Law
- Why Paternity Leave Is Important, Even Though You’ll Hate It — from Deadspin
Labor Relations
- Northwestern’s Appeal to NLRB on Football Union — from Phil Miles’s Lawffice Space
- The NLRB and social media — why you need to care — from Technology for HR
- Target Takes a Stand — from Labor Relations Institute