MGMT-410
Social Media Losses
Damian Walker
DeVry University
Robin Churray

May 17, 2015

Social Media Losses
Alexis Hanson v. Hooters of Ontario Mills
On May 18 in Ontario Mills, California, a National Labor Relations Board Administrative Law (NLRB) Judge found Alexis Hanson unlawfully fired for complaining about a bikini contest that she believed was rigged. Additionally, the judge ruled that Hooters handbook rules prohibiting behavior, such as insubordination and disrespect to guests, was unruly and prohibited Hooters nondisclosure agreement and an arbitration agreement.
Hanson allegedly cursed Pamela Noble, Hooters marketing coordinator, for winning the April 2013 bikini contest and $300 prize money that she believe was fixed, by sarcastically congratulating her online. Subsequently, Hanson received a phone call from Hoot Winc’s vice president of human resources saying she was being fired for “negative social media posts.” NLRB Judge Cates wrote, “The evidence indicates the company knew it could rid itself of Panitch and simply sought to lump Hansons’s discharge in the mix and rid itself of both complaining employees. I find it clear Hanson’s discharge was motivated by her protected concerted activity.” NLRB Judge deemed Hoot Wine LLC and Hooters of Ontario Mills to rehire Alexis Hanson and supplement lost wages due to her dismissal.

Ethical Decision-Making
The decision ruled for Alexis Hanson was a fair judgement. Hanson’s post online was her personal opinion on how she felt about the contest. Hanson expressed that the contest was unfair because Noble was friends with Krystle Line, one of the contest judges, and her boyfriend who Noble allegedly stated was her best friend, serving as another judge. Hanson raised concerns about the fairness of the contest to the regional direct and general manager at a meeting, but her concerns were dismissed. Understanding Hanson’s frustration she has the right to express her opinion on social media posts. By firing Hanson for expressing her opinion Hooters was taking away her constitutional right freedom of speech. Employees should never feel that their job, form of income to take care of their family and livelihood, is on the line by expressing their opinions about company functions. She didn’t defame the franchise nor was her comments posted during company hours. Her statement was made on an event and it didn’t have any negative connotation on the franchise profits. By firing Hanson, Hooters franchise in Ontario Mills displayed an act of control and negligence of their employees concern.

Warehouse Employee Social Messaging
The decision ruled in the case of Alexis Hanson v. Hooters of Ontario Mills would build employee relations in a warehouse work environment. The work atmosphere in a warehouse can be very stressing due to long work hours of physical labor. Employees get tiresome and desire to express their opinions on the company’s business practices that affect employee relations. Today’s workforce consist of employees that use social media websites and applications frequently. The average American spend 162 minutes per day mobile device where 86% are apps used to post social media posts. This would give a high presumption that employees post work-related stress online to their network to express their opinion. If these employees were aware of Hanson case then they would feel more secure with their employment by not feeling fearful of sending posts. This would cause an increase in social media posts during work hours. Because of this potential, many employers with a warehouse holding their inventory will have a policy stating cell phones and media devices are not allowed within the warehouse area. You always have employees that slip through the cracks and have their phones on them, so if there is a potential breach of security. A plethora amount of data can be obtained through video, camera, and download sensitive information that can hinder company competition.

Social Media and Employee Relations Employers have a huge responsibility to monitor employee actions that may impact the perception of the company to their customers. A U.S. Federal Trade Commission decision may make employers responsible for false endorsements that employees post on their social media sites. Having such a responsibility, management desire to take every precaution to minimize the risk of defacement. Asking for employees social media site passwords and/or monitoring their sites would be preventative tasks, but it breaches privacy and trust. Management has the task of identifying ways to protect the company’s reputation while promoting employee relations. A social media policy would have to be implemented to protect the interest of the company. A social media policy provides guideline that explain the usage and separation of social media posts that include the company’s brand. An example would be allowing employees to associate themselves with their prospective company, but they would have to clearly state that their posts are purely personal from their own opinion and not that of the company. This protects the image of the company and allows each employee to express their constitutional right and express their opinion.

References
HOOT WINC, LLC And ONTARIO WINGS, LLC D/B/A HOOTERS OF ONTARIO MILLS, JOINT EMPLOYERS V. ALEXIS HANSON. 2014.
Dessler, Gary. Human Resource Management. 13th ed. Prentice Hall, 2013.
Law360.com,. 'NLRB Judge Says Hooters Firing, Work Rules Unlawful - Law360'. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 May 2015.