“Your Client’s Social Media Posts Could Cost Them Their Job” NJICLE

“Your Client’s Social Media Posts Could Cost Them Their Job” NJICLE

On Monday, November 20th, 2023, Partner and Chair of the firm’s Education Law group, John G. Geppert, will be presenting an NJICLE seminar entitled, “Your Client’s Social Media Posts Could Cost Them Their Job”. The presentation will be part of the NJSBA’s annual Fall Conference held entirely online. Attendees of the virtual conference are eligible for up to 8.2 CLE credits.

Background of “Your Client’s Social Media Posts Could Cost Them Their Job”

On October 5, 2023, the New Jersey Appellate Division ruled that a school district acted properly when it told a prospective employer that a teacher’s social media posts made her the subject of a “sexual misconduct investigation” pursuant to a 2018 statute commonly known as the “Pass the Trash” law.

The ruling provides guidance on the application of that law, NJSA 18A:6-7.6-7.13, which is intended to address the practice of encouraging school employees who engage in improper conduct to seek work elsewhere in exchange for a neutral job reference. In this case, a teacher with the Hackensack School District had been under investigation for posting sexually explicit statements on social media in 2013. She agreed to resign as part of a settlement with the district and did so before the investigation was complete. When she applied to the Clifton school district in 2019, Clifton sent a questionnaire to Hackensack as per the statute, and Hackensack replied that she had been under investigation. Clifton then rescinded a job offer.

The teacher sued Hackensack in 2019, asking it to rescind and correct its response to the questionnaire. An administrative law judge ruled for Hackensack and dismissed the teacher’s complaint on summary judgment, and the Appellate Division later affirmed that ruling. The Commissioner of Education adopted the Administrative Law Judge’s findings.

Join Mr. Geppert at 2:50 PM (EST), who argued the case on behalf of the school district, in a discussion of the case, the law and the danger your clients may face when posting sexually explicit material on their social media pages.