Article: “What Can Management Do to Protect the Organization from Inappropriate Use of Social Media?”

Baker Hostetler Partner Dan Guttman published “What Can Management Do to Protect the Organization from Inappropriate Use of Social Media?” in the winter 2012 issue of OHPELRA Update, the labor and employee relations trade publication covering all Ohio’s public employers.

In the article, Mr. Guttman notes that although social media outlets, including Facebook and LinkedIn, provide employers with new and growing opportunities for communication as well as for recruiting and hiring new talent, the use of social media by organizations and their employees also presents numerous challenges and risks, both in terms of efficiency and legal liability.

He also warns employers to proceed with caution and suggests organizations create a social media policy to identify and mitigate their potential sources of legal liability without hampering social media’s potential benefits to the company.  He provides several guidelines consistent with federal and state law to consider and encourages employers to consult legal counsel to formulate a custom tailored social media policy to address their specific needs and their legal environment.