The ambulance company that fired a worker after she criticized her supervisor and employer on Facebook has settled a complaint issued by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Under the accord, which was announced this week in an NLRB press release, American Medical Response of Connecticut, Inc., agreed it would change its “overly broad rules” to ensure it does not restrict employees’ speech while they are away from work.
The NLRB’s unfair labor practice complaint against American Medical Response was originally scheduled for a hearing on January 25, 2011, but was reportedly delayed so that the parties could finalize a settlement. The formal settlement announcement came one day before the rescheduled hearing was to begin.
This was the NLRB’s first complaint against an employer for taking action against a worker for social media postings made from a personal computer.
On November 8, 2009, Dawnmarie Souza, an emergency medical technician and member of Teamsters Local 443, was asked by management to complete an incident report after the ambulance service company received complaints from clients that Souza had been rude. In response to the company’s request, Souza asked for union representation, which she was denied. On that same day, Souza posted disparaging comments on her Facebook page about her boss and also criticized the company, insinuating that it allowed a “psychiatric patient” to be a supervisor. The Facebook posting drew comments from Souza’s coworkers, to which she responded with additional posts. Three weeks later, Souza’s employment was terminated.
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