The Perils of Posting: Court Cases on Off-Duty Social Media Conduct of Public Employees

In recent years, there has been an increase of public employees being fired for inappropriate behavior on social media. This research explores social media conduct of public employees that have been adjudicated through the federal and state court systems. The arguments of these cases are based upon the question of an employee’s first amendment rights versus the rights of the employer to maintain a desired work environment. The research found that widespread negative publicity, disruption of close working relationships, inappropriate and offensive employees comments led to favorable outcomes for the public employers. In contrast, when an employee posts on social media while off-duty as a private citizen, the employer has not cited any disruption and the comments are not personal attacks against employers but have substantial public concerns led to positive outcomes for the public employee.Additional ISBNs9781498588942The Perils of Posting: Court Cases on Off-Duty Social Media Conduct of Public Employees is written by Paul Douglas Foote; James R. Harrington; John McCaskill and published by Lexington Books. ISBNs for The Perils of Posting are 9781498588935, 149858893X and the print ISBNs are 9781498588928, 1498588921. Additional ISBNs include 9781498588942.