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Web 2.0 at Work

By David W. Garland and Kristina R. Haymes
March 25, 2008

In recent years, millions of employees have joined the world of Web 2.0, which includes social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, blogs, wikis, podcasts, video sharing sites and RSS feeds. Today, technology allows virtually anyone to easily post a message, picture, audio and/or video to his or her networking page, blog or other Web site. In this constantly changing new world, where individuals have the ability to disseminate information about their employers to a potentially world-wide Internet audience, employers need to evaluate their existing technology policies and, where necessary, implement new policies and strategies.

The Web 2.0 environment has given rise to new potential liabilities for employers. An employer, for example, may have responsibility and hence liability for the messages posted on its message boards or intranet. Continental Airlines learned that lesson when the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the air carrier could be liable for employees' harassing, retaliatory and sometimes defamatory messages about a co-employee on a work-related forum (the company's Internet message board) where it knows or has reason to know of the conduct. Blakey v. Continental Airlines, Inc., 164 N.J. 38 (2000). While the court emphasized that 'employers do not have a duty to monitor private communication of their employees' (e.g., e-mail), once they have actual or constructive notice of harassing activity they have a duty to end it or face liability.

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