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Facebook gives employers lots of reasons to worry. There are employees who leak confidential company information, talk badly about supervisors, and complain about customers. There's also the NLRB's recently settled complaint, brought against a Connecticut employer,

that alleged that the employer's social-media policy was overly broad. And, for several years, employers have struggled with the question of whether they can or should "research" candidates online before making a hiring decision. We've posted about this question many times but the debate continues.

The most recent headline is sure to jettison the debate yet again. The American Civil Liberties Union has taken up the cause of Maryland corrections officer Robert Collins.  According the ACLU's blog, Collins was required to provide his Facebook login and password to the Maryland Division of Corrections (DOC) during a recertification interview.  Once he provided it, the interviewer logged on to his account and reviewed the content.  The ACLU's letter to Maryland's Public Safety Secretary and a video of Mr. Collins telling his story can be found on the ACLU Blog.

Once this story gets some publicity, it's not likely to be defended by many. The only other employer that I've heard of who required potential employees to turn over their log-in information was the town of Bozeman, Montana. When news of the town's practice hit the Internet, a firestorm of negative publicity resulted. Shortly thereafter, the practice was abandoned.

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Molly DiBianca

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