Should a employer have a right to fire someone for venting on a social site or is it free speech?

[redirish28]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/business/09facebook.html?_r=1&hp



Company Accused of Firing Over Facebook Post


In what labor officials and lawyers view as a ground-breaking case involving workers and social media, the National Labor Relations Board has accused a company of illegally firing an employee after she criticized her supervisor on her Facebook page.

This is the first case in which the labor board has stepped in to argue that workers’ criticisms of their bosses or companies on a social networking site are generally a protected activity and that employers would be violating the law by punishing workers for such statements.

The labor relations board announced last week that it had filed a complaint against an ambulance service, American Medical Response of Connecticut, that fired an emergency medical technician, accusing her, among other things, of violating a 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.

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IMHO-- When you are off the clock on your own time. I should be allowed to say what I want to whom I want without my job being at risk. Now granted Inside trading and illegal activities are wrong. But someone who have a hard day at work or some crappy rule comes into play at the workplace someone should be allowed to voice displeasure without any retribution.