by Josh Scharff | Sep 19, 2013 | Employment Law, Free Speech, Public Sector Employees, Social Media
Bland v. Roberts Reverses District Court’s Take on the Facebook “Like” Button. The Fourth Circuit ruled yesterday that a public employee’s decision to “like” a candidate’s Facebook page amounted to free speech that is protected under the First...
by Josh Scharff | Sep 12, 2013 | Employment Law, Social Media
The list of states that have enacted laws prohibiting employers from accessing applicants’ and employees’ private social media sites keeps growing, and Nevada is the latest addition. This past summer, Governor Brian Sandoval signed Assembly Bill 181 into law. Section...
by Josh Scharff | Mar 21, 2013 | Clergy Employment Issues, Unemployment
Employees laid off or terminated from a position with a religious congregation may be in for an additional unpleasant surprise – they may be legally precluded from collecting unemployment benefits. While the purpose of unemployment insurance is to provide a safety net...
by Josh Scharff | Jul 6, 2012 | Clergy Employment Issues, Supreme Court, Title VII
The Ministerial Exception makes it to the Supreme Court in Hosanna Tabor v. EEOC Earlier this year, the Supreme Court first considered the validity and applicability of the “ministerial exception” – a common law principle that exempts religious institutions from...
by Josh Scharff | Jun 22, 2012 | Labor Law, Supreme Court
Knox v. SEIU Limits Unions’ Ability to Collect Dues to Oppose Anti-Union Legislation In a 7-2 decision yesterday, the Supreme Court found in Knox v. SEIU that the First Amendment prohibited public sector unions from collecting special fees for political...
by Josh Scharff | Jun 8, 2012 | Employment Law, Labor Law, Maryland Labor Law, Social Media
The State of Maryland had a busy month of May on the forefront of labor and employment law. On May 2, Maryland became the second state to officially recognize a labor relations privilege when Governor Martin O’Malley signed Senate Bill 797 into law. On that same day,...
by Josh Scharff | May 30, 2012 | Labor Law, Social Media
Earlier today, the National Labor Relations Board Acting General Counsel, Lafe Solomon, released a third report on social media issues and the workplace. The NLRB released its first report on social media issues in August 2011 and a second report in January 2012. The...
