Entrepreneur Magazine’s Daily Dose recently spoke with Damon Dunn about two recent cases on First Amendment protection for public employees’ Facebook “likes”. We previously discussed the cases here.
Should a “Like” be protected as freedom of speech? Damon E. Dunn, a partner in the law firm Funkhouser Vegosen Liebman and Dunn Ltd., says public employees can bring retaliation claims based on First Amendment rights because the government employs them. Maybe not when speaking on behalf of their employer as part of their job duties, but certainly when speaking as private citizens.
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In the sheriff’s department firings, the judge found that the “Like” button was too generic to constitute expressive speech. Had it qualified as speech, the judge still might not have had enough context to ascertain whether the workers expressed an opinion qualifying for protection, Dunn says. The Library of Congress employee, Dunn says, might be able to show that the page he “liked” was sufficiently specific so that one can infer his opinion involved a matter of public concern.
In cases involving private employees, Damon notes, “likes” may turn isolated statements into protected concerted activity protected by the National Labor Relations Act.
You can read the full Entrepreneur article here.
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