Employees’ off-duty use of social media continues to be a hot topic:
- In a recent California decision, a court allowed a case to proceed to a jury in which a Muslim employee claimed he was unlawfully fired after posting on social media in support of Palestine in connection with the Israeli-Palestine conflict.
- In a recent Florida decision, a court held that a Florida agency did not have to immediately rehire an employee who was fired after allegedly posting insensitive content following the murder of Charlie Kirk.
- New York’s highest court recently decided to take up a case on appeal in which a lower court ruled that an employer did not violate New York’s “off-duty” conduct laws for firing an employee over a blog post criticizing Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.
Employers should continue to closely monitor these and the many other cases involving employee use of social media posts and keep in close contact with legal counsel before taking adverse action for off-duty conduct in order to mitigate risk.