Employers and social media: EEOC considers discrimination laws

Last month, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission held a meeting to discuss how social media impacts the anti-discrimination laws that the EEOC upholds. The EEOC discussed many things about the changing role of employers and social media, but its biggest concern was the way private social media posts have begun to play an increased role in employment discrimination lawsuits. The problem comes up when a former candidate has sued a company for discrimination, and the company later attempts to access the candidate’s private social media content — that is, information that has not been made available for the general public’s viewing — as a means of undermining the candidate’s case. There is no concern when it comes to employers utilizing information in court that a candidate has willingly made public. Previously, the EEOC has maintained that the content that users post privately to social media sites is not relevant to lawsuits. Lawsuit plaintiffs are now siding with the EEOC’s original ruling that their private content is not relevant in court. Social media is a relatively new area of study in employment law, and it is unclear at this point whether the individuals or employers are likely to win this argument. Nearly 75 percent of employers are actively using (or plan to use) social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter for recruiting new candidates; many more utilize these sites for brand engagement, crisis management and marketing. These businesses will need to stay vigilant as to the evolution of social media in the workplace, especially when it comes to issues of discrimination. photo credit: SalFalko via photopin cc]]>