Employer Ordered To Rehire Workers Who Badmouthed Boss On Facebook

Holli Thomas had a simple request. She wanted to know if the Bettie Page store where she worked in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood could close an hour earlier than its normal 8 p.m. closing time. Thomas and other workers at the vintage clothing store -- named after the iconic 1950s pinup model -- were concerned about their safety, since other nearby retailers closed an hour earlier and the store had no security system.

But Thomas' request, along with other suggestions she had for making the store "the best it could possibly be," were ignored. So she and a co-worker vented on Facebook, and that resulted in their dismissal, according to a National Labor Relations Board decision last week (via Social Media Employment Law Blog).