How Tinkerbell's tryst and other tales from Facebook can affect you.

• Author: Davis, M. Robin
• Position: LAW JOURNAL 2009.

What started as a graduate project to offer electronic-communication networking to college students has grown into a mode of communication used worldwide by people of all ages. Social-networking sites are becoming a preferred mode of communication, and all sources indicate that they are here to stay. That means it is increasingly difficult to keep private and professional lives completely separated. Consider these real-life scenarios.

Tinkerbell's tryst. Late Wednesday afternoon, Colin sent an e-mail informing his boss that he would be out of work for a couple of days because of a family emergency. That weekend, Colin's boss was surfing Facebook and found a picture of Colin in full Tinkerbell fairy gear--bare-chested in a green turn with fairy wings, blue eye-shadow, turquoise glitter and a sloppy grin, with a Busch Light 40 in one hand and a fairy wand in the other). The picture had been posted by Colin about 2 a.m. Friday.

The following Monday Colin's boss responded to Colin's "family-emergency notice" e-mail with the Tinkerbell picture attached, sending well-wishes to his family and remarking, "Cool wand!" The boss copied the e-mail to the North America "all" section of employees.

Slurs in flight. A crew of flight attendants recently was terminated when Facebook banter revealed them branding their passengers as "chavs" and speaking negatively about the passengers' behavior. After a passenger called the airline's attention to the Facebook page, the airline--which had a strict policy prohibiting disparaging remarks against passengers and/or other employees--investigated and fired all 13 crew members involved.

To date there have been no lawsuits brought by employees or employers challenging each other's use of these sites. Thus employers and employees frequently find themselves in uncharted terrain. Among the frequently asked questions are:

* Can an employer restrict the content its employees publish on private social-networking sites?

* Can an employer fire an employee for information the employer reads on the employee's site profile?

* Can an employee post opinions about other employees? About past employers?

* Can employers search site profiles of prospective candidates for employment?

Do's and don'ts

In restricting the content employees publish on private social-networking sites, the most important piece of armor an employer can use is a well-drafted policy that limits the use of these sites in the workplace. It is acceptable for a...