Archive

Virginia Commission Vacates Facebook Fine in Workers’ Comp Dispute

By Staff Report

Sep. 17, 2009


An official of the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission has vacated a $200-per-day fine on Facebook for failing to reveal information from a subscriber’s account.


Virginia imposed the fine August 28 after Palo Alto, California-based Facebook Inc. did not respond to a workers’ comp defense attorney’s subpoena seeking information about an employee for Manassas, Virginia-based Colgan Air Inc., said Chief Deputy Commissioner James J. Szablewicz.


Facebook responded later and argued that the federal Electronics Communications Privacy Act prohibited it from responding to the subpoena.


A deputy commissioner agreed and vacated the $200-per-day fine, Szablewicz said. Facebook also argued that courts have ruled that the U.S. law prohibits social networking sites from revealing subscribers’ information—even in the face of a subpoena.


The case reportedly involved the airline’s attempt to obtain vacation photos of an employee to counter a workers’ comp claim for a back injury.



Filed by Roberto Ceniceros of Business Insurance, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.


Stay informed and connected. Get human resources news and HR features via Workforce Management’s Twitter feed or RSS feeds for mobile devices and news readers.

Schedule, engage, and pay your staff in one system with Workforce.com.

Recommended

Join over 52,000 of your HR peers

Don't miss out on the latest tactics and insights at the forefront of HR.