Surprising legal snares of sending 'friend' requests
A common scenario: While browsing around on Facebook, a manager comes across the profile of one of his or her employees and sends a friend request. Here’s why it shouldn’t be done.
Attorney Michael Schmidt gives a list of compelling reasons why employers shouldn’t friend their employees here.
While it may seem completely innocuous, firing off “friend requests” to your employees on sites such as FaceBook or MySpace can set off everything from legal claims (harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, etc.) to favoritism complaints.
Because these sites are littered with detailed personal information, it’s easier for employees to claim that their boss made important work decisions — such as a promotion — based on something that was found in a social network profile.
Religious or political affiliation, age and/or health conditions, sexual orientation are just a few examples of info that could serve as grounds for a lawsuit if a manager takes any adverse action against a “friend.”
Need another reason? An Office Team survey recently found that 47% of employees said they don’t want to be “friended” by their boss.
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