On April 21, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") Associate General Counsel, Barry Kearney, issued a memorandum recommending that a reporter's charge of unlawful termination as a result of inappropriate Tweets be dismissed in the case of Lee Enterprises, Inc., d/b/a Arizona Daily Star. The NLRB stated that the reporter's discharge did not violate the National Labor Relations Act as the reporter's conduct was not protected and concerted, moreover, it did not relate to the terms and conditions of employment or seek to involve other employees in issues related to employment.

The reporter opened a Twitter account and began Tweeting in 2009 at the urging of his employer, the Arizona Daily Star.  He linked his employer's website to his account and indicated in his bio that he was a reporter for the Daily Star.  Early in 2010, the reporter Tweeted that "The Arizona Daily Star's copy editors are the most witty and creative people in the world.  Or at least they think they are."  As a result, he was called to a meeting with his human resources director and the managing editor of the paper.  At that time, he was advised that he was prohibited from airing his complaints about the Daily Star in any public forum.

Subsequently, the reporter ceased Tweeting about the paper itself, but posted various other Tweets the paper found inappropriate, including: "What?!?!? No overnight homicide? WTF? You're slacking Tucson," and "Hope everyone's having a good Homicide Friday as one Tucson police officer called it." Finally, on September 21, 2010, a TV station's Tweet was Re-Tweeted on the reporter's website saying "Drug Smuggler tries to peddle his way into the U.S.," to which the reporter Tweeted "Um, I believe that's PEDAL.  Stupid TV people."

The Daily Star again called the employee in for a meeting at which they advised him that they believed the Twitter account to be a work Twitter account and that he was drawing negative attention to the Daily Star.  The reporter was subsequently suspended for three days then terminated.

In recommending dismissal, the NLRB noted that the reporter was discharged for posting inappropriate and unprofessional Tweets even after having been warned. However, the associate general counsel also commended that may of the statements made by the employer could be interpreted to prohibit activities that are protected under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act.  Specifically, the associate general counsel stated:

"Although the statements arguably constituted unlawful restrictions of the charging party's own Section 7 activities, it would not effectuate the purposes and polices of the act to issue a complaint where the statements were directed to a single employee who was lawfully discharged."

For more information concerning social media and employment policies, please contact Mark Koerner at (517) 886-7109 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

     On May 11, 2011, the Delaware Senate voted on legislation that would decriminalize possession, use, and distribution of medical marihuana.  The strict bill regulates everything from the quality of marihuana to how it is transported i.e. tamperproof containers.  Further, unlike citizens in other states, Delaware citizens who receive a doctor's recommendation to use medical marihuana will not be able to grow in their own home.  Instead, qualified patients will only be able to receive medical marihuana through state-licensed dispensaries.  Delaware's Department of Health and Social Services will be charged with issuing one dispensary license per county, to a not-for-profit organization.  The bill also establishes a state-supervised safety compliance center that will test medical marihuana grown at dispensaries.  In addition, Delaware's bill not only requires a "bona fide physician-patient relationship" for a doctor to recommend medical marihuana, it also requires the patient to have exhausted other medical remedies before being recommended.  The intent is to limit access to medical marihuana to patients who have serious debilitating conditions.  The bill does not allow patients suffering from glaucoma, crohn's, or early stages of hepatitis C to obtain medical marihuana.  A more lenient provision of the bill allows patients to purchase a generous 6 ounces of medical marihuana each month.  For more information, read the following article. 

     The City of Lansing is in the process of drafting an ordinance to regulate medical marihuana dispensaries.  The current version of the proposed ordinance requires dispensaries to move to industrially zoned areas.  The proposal does not allow already existing dispensaries to stay in their current locations if they are not located in an industrial area.  This affects 37 out of the 41 dispensaries located in the City.  If these 37 dispensaries can establish themselves as lawful pre-existing nonconforming uses, they may be entitled to invoke protections against such a re-location requirement.   More information can be found here.

     On May 9, 2011, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to make clear that the Department of Justice will not prosecute people who comply with state medical marihuana laws.  Concerned about recent letters that threaten state employees and state licensed providers of medical marihuana, the ACLU is seeking clear guidance that state laws will be respected.  According to the ACLU's letter, the Department of Justice's attempt to dissuade states from enacting and implementing medical marijuana laws is an abuse of its role as an impartial prosecutor and undermines the legislative process of various sovereign states.  The ACLU's letter may be viewed here.