Partner Heather Weine Brochin Discusses Possible Ramifications of NJ Social Media Bill with Law360

Heather Weine Brochin, part of Day Pitney's Social Media Task Force, was quoted in a March 25 Law360 article on a New Jersey bill currently before Gov. Christie that would create much stricter rules about how employers treat social media. The bill would prohibit employers from asking prospective employees whether they have social media accounts, and would allow employees to sue if those terms were violated. Heather said that, "I'm a little concerned about employers inadvertently tripping up over the provision in New Jersey's bill that says you can't ask employees if they have an account. It's problematic in many senses, because many employees are using social networking accounts to do their jobs." She cites LinkedIn as an example, saying that, "It could create a real issue if asking an employee about a tool like that opened employers to liability."