Maybe they should have served bratwurst and beer to promote the ultimate dining machine?
The National Labor Relations Board has found that the firing of a BMW salesperson for photos and comments posted to his Facebook page did not violate federal labor law, because the activity was not protected.
The fired employee in question and coworkers were allegedly unhappy with the quality of food and beverages at a dealership event promoting a new BMW model. Sales representatives complained that their sales commissions could suffer as a result.
Following the event, the salesperson posted photos and commentary on his Facebook page critical that only hot dogs (not bratwurst?) and bottled water (not Bavarian beer?) were being offered to customers. Other employees had access to the Facebook page. “No, that’s not champagne or wine, it’s 8 oz. water,” the salesman commented under the photos.
The Board said that the question came down to whether the salesman was fired exclusively for posting photos of an embarrassing and potentially dangerous accident at an adjacent Land Rover dealership, or for posting mocking comments and photos with co-workers about serving hot dogs at a luxury BMW sales event. Both sets of photos were posted to Facebook on the same day; a week later, the sales representative was fired from Knauz BMW in Lake Bluff, Illinois, a long-time Chicago area BMW dealer.
The Board agreed with Administrative Law Judge Joel P. Biblowitz, who found after a trial that the salesperson was fired solely for other photos he posted of a Land Rover that was accidently driven over a wall and into a pond at the adjacent dealership after a test drive. Both dealerships are owned by the same employer.
The Land Rover accident resulted when another salesperson allowed a customer’s 13-year-old son to sit behind the wheel following a test drive, and the boy apparently hit the gas, ran over his parent’s foot, jumped the wall and drove into a pond. The salesperson posted photos of the accident with sarcastic commentary, including “OOPS.”
The National Labor Relations Act protects the group actions of employees “who are discussing or trying to improve their terms and conditions of employment.” An individual’s actions can be protected if they are undertaken on behalf of a group, but the judge found, and the Board agreed, that was not the case here.
See AutoInformed: Facebook Posting Costs Chicago BMW Salesperson His Job and BMW Dealership Wrongfully Fired Person for Facebook Posts?
