Workplace Ethics and Facebook

An article from Monday's edition of the New York Times reports on a recent case where the National Labor Relations Board has stepped in to argue that workers' criticisms of their bosses or companies on a social networking sites are generally a protected activity and that employers would be violating the law for punishing works for such statements.

The Labor Relations Board filed a complaint last week against the ambulance company, American Medical Response of Connecticut who fired an emergency medical technician who violated a company policy that bars employees from depicting the company "in any way" on Facebook or other social media sites in which they post pictures of themselves. The Labor Board says that the company's rule was "overly broad" and improperly limited employees rights to discuss working conditions among themselves.

Should employees have the right to air complaints against their employees on social networking sites? Conversely, should employers have the right to hold employees accountable for what they post on their own Facebook pages?