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Category: Social Media

Corrections Officer’s Threats Earn Court Sanctions

November 2, 2018
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| Categories: Public Safety Labor News, Social Media

Paula Emerson is a correctional officer on leave from the Cook County Department of Corrections in Illinois. Emerson worked at what is known as “Division 9,” a County-run detention unit that houses maximum-security inmates. Emerson had several duties, including monitoring the inmates’ activities and accompanying them to meals and other events. She also cleaned cells, common areas, and restroom facilities on occasion. Emerson’s tenure at the division was tumultuous….

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Conduct Unbecoming Rule Applies To Off-Duty Social Media Comment

July 25, 2018
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| Categories: Public Safety Labor News, Social Media

Benjamin Zucker is a sergeant with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). On March 31, 2014, Mark Cronin, who was a Los Angeles Police Protective League director, posted a link to an article from the Daily News on his Facebook profile. The article was about Police Officer Victoria Debellis’s lawsuit, and was entitled “LAPD Officer Says She Was Harassed Because of Gender, Religion, Suing City of Los Angeles.” On…

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Court Upholds Termination for Captain’s Trayvon Martin Facebook Post

December 28, 2017
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| Categories: Freedom Of Speech, Public Safety Labor News, Social Media

Michael Snipes worked as a law enforcement captain with the Beach Safety and Ocean Rescue Department of Volusia County, Florida. Shortly before the events culminating in Snipe’s termination occurred, the Beach Patrol was involved in a public scandal involving adult employees and underage females which significantly, and negatively, affected its reputation in the community. Although Snipes was not involved in that scandal, he was aware of its impact on…

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Facebook Posts Cost Battalion Chief His Job

May 25, 2017
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| Categories: Freedom Of Speech, Public Safety Labor News, Social Media

Kevin Buker was a battalion chief with the Howard County, Maryland Department of Fire and Rescue Services. In 2011, the Department developed a social media policy, in part in response to a racially-tinged Facebook post from a volunteer firefighter. The Policy prohibits employees “from posting or publishing statements, opinions or information that might reasonably be interpreted as discriminatory, harassing, defamatory, racially or ethnically derogatory, or sexually violent when such…

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Racial Facebook Post Not Constitutionally Protected

March 29, 2017
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| Categories: Freedom Of Speech, Public Safety Labor News, Social Media

Adam Meadors was a police officer for the Meridian, Mississippi Police Department. Meadors posted to his public Facebook page a photo depicting two chimpanzees laughing with the following caption: “Earlier today, the mayor and the chief of police had a meeting.” He commented on the photo, saying: “Something will probably be said, but I couldn’t resist.” After a few minutes, however, he removed the photo. Meadors was on duty…

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Social Networking Policy Violates Free Speech Rights

March 29, 2017
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| Categories: First Amendment, Freedom Of Speech, Public Safety Labor News, Social Media

Herbert Liverman and Vance Richards were veteran police officers for the City of Petersburg, Virginia. In April 2013, the Police Chief issued a general order revising the Department’s social networking policy. The preface to the revised policy prohibited in sweeping terms the dissemination of any information “that would tend to discredit or reflect unfavorably upon the Department or any other City of Petersburg Department or its employees.” The central…

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Off-Duty Social Media Policy Mandatory For Bargaining

March 1, 2016
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| Categories: Collective Bargaining, Public Safety Labor News, Social Media

The Newark Police Superior Officers’ Association represents sergeants, lieutenants and captains in the Newark, New Jersey Police Department. In May 2015, the Department issued a new social media policy. The policy, which the Department described as containing “sensible guidelines,” regulated on- and off-duty social media use. The policy cautioned that “negative references to official duties and responsibilities can be perceived as detrimental toward the Newark Police Department. Offensive, derogatory…

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Split Decision On Firefighter Facebook Terminations

July 31, 2015
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| Categories: Public Safety Labor News, Social Media

Kevin Buker, a Battalion Chief in the Emergency Services Bureau of Howard County, Maryland Department of Fire and Rescue Services, maintained a private Facebook account. Buker’s Facebook friends included employees of the Department and other public safety agencies, as well students from an EMT class that he taught. Buker set his Facebook privacy settings such that only his “friends” – and not the general public on Facebook – could…

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Sergeant Loses Job Over Facebook ‘Rant’

March 3, 2015
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| Categories: Public Safety Labor News, Social Media, Termination

Susan Graziosi was a sergeant for the Greenville, Mississippi Police Department with over 25 years of service. In 2012, several officers expressed to the Police Chief a desire to attend the funeral of a police officer who was killed in the line of duty in Pearl, Mississippi. Despite the City Council’s decision to disallow the use of patrol cars for personal use under the “take-home” program due to budget…

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NLRB Finds Employee’s Facebook ‘Like’ and Comment Protected By Labor Law

September 30, 2014
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| Categories: Freedom Of Speech, Public Safety Labor News, Social Media

Though the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) does not cover public safety employees working for state and local governmental employers, the decisions of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) have a significant influence on how state labor boards and commissions interpret state bargaining laws. For that reason, the NLRB’s latest foray into the world of social media is of interest. The NLRB’s decision, occurring in a case known as…

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