Social Networks: A New Vehicle for Employment Discrimination?

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Most people are aware that information they put on social networks may be publicly available to potential employers.  Some people believe that they will be OK because they have never posted any risqué photos or talked about drug use.

However, consider this: have you talked about religion, a disability or other legally protected classifications?  What about your innocent pictures that might portray your race or national origin?  These interesting thoughts are addressed in a recent study by Carnegie Mellon University researchers titled An Experiment in Hiring Discrimination Via Online Social Networks. [Find it]

A company’s use of social media in hiring can be a factor in employment discrimination cases.   If you want to read further about this topic check out these articles:

  1. Blurred Boundaries: Social Media Privacy and the Twenty-First-Century Employee, 49 Am. Bus. L.J. 63
  2. Note: It Can Do More Than Protect Your Credit Score: Regulating Social Media Pre-Employment Screening with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 97 Minn. L. Rev. 306
  3. The Role and Effect of Social Media in the Workplace, 40 N. Ky. L. Rev. 567

You may also want to visit BNA’s Social media law & policy report.

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