4 ms·

Yeah, hard to say, one could certainly make an argument that it did fall under that though. It would need to be decided in court.

giantg2 6y ago
How could that message, on that site, fall into the scope of the plugin? I could maybe see if it was a site that employees were actually using it to perform concerted activities. If the firm was hired by the company, then they can't also represent the workers. Thus, what could employees do on that site for concerted activities? I would also guess the plugin only covers prohibited use and does not cover allowed uses (ie does the plugin say you have 1st ammendment rights when visiting Facebook?). I doubt the documentation states that the plugin shall provide users with their rights. It probably says something like the purpose is to provide users with policy or law information related to the site they are visiting so they don't break the law/policy.
- esrauch 6y ago
  Is it even the case that you are legally protected when you inform you coworkers that they have constitutional rights? I would have assumed only informing them of workplace rights specifically would be protected.
  - giantg2 6y ago
    Only if it's a concerted effort to improve the workplace and even then it depends on how it is accomplished. The message merely stated that employees have the right to organize. Without additional context, I don't see how that is a concerted effort to improve the workplace. There would have to be a "unionize to improve health coverage, or wages, etc" type message. Otherwise, I could just stand at my desk all day and tell people as they walk by that they have the right to free speech, to own a gun, and protections from unreasonable searches, etc. It's not a concerted effort to make the workplace better, so it doesn't matter if I'm telling people about their rights (not to mention I would not be doing my job while on the clock). Using a plugin to communicate that message is likely a subversion of it's intended purpose and would be inappropriate - similar to if she were maintaining the company intranet site and posted a banner with that information. They aren't mediums for individual communication (such as email or chat apps) but rather for company-to-employee messaging and for the sole use of the company. In this case, she misused company-to-employee infrastructure outside of its scope for her own communication purposes.

giantg2 6y ago

How could that message, on that site, fall into the scope of the plugin? I could maybe see if it was a site that employees were actually using it to perform concerted activities. If the firm was hired by the company, then they can't also represent the workers. Thus, what could employees do on that site for concerted activities? I would also guess the plugin only covers prohibited use and does not cover allowed uses (ie does the plugin say you have 1st ammendment rights when visiting Facebook?). I doubt the documentation states that the plugin shall provide users with their rights. It probably says something like the purpose is to provide users with policy or law information related to the site they are visiting so they don't break the law/policy.

esrauch 6y ago
Is it even the case that you are legally protected when you inform you coworkers that they have constitutional rights? I would have assumed only informing them of workplace rights specifically would be protected.
- giantg2 6y ago
  Only if it's a concerted effort to improve the workplace and even then it depends on how it is accomplished. The message merely stated that employees have the right to organize. Without additional context, I don't see how that is a concerted effort to improve the workplace. There would have to be a "unionize to improve health coverage, or wages, etc" type message. Otherwise, I could just stand at my desk all day and tell people as they walk by that they have the right to free speech, to own a gun, and protections from unreasonable searches, etc. It's not a concerted effort to make the workplace better, so it doesn't matter if I'm telling people about their rights (not to mention I would not be doing my job while on the clock). Using a plugin to communicate that message is likely a subversion of it's intended purpose and would be inappropriate - similar to if she were maintaining the company intranet site and posted a banner with that information. They aren't mediums for individual communication (such as email or chat apps) but rather for company-to-employee messaging and for the sole use of the company. In this case, she misused company-to-employee infrastructure outside of its scope for her own communication purposes.