Did these workers get fired? You decide

A BMW salesman in Illinois posted two sets of comments on Facebook. One set, with photos, poked fun at an incident at the company's nearby Land Rover dealership. A youngster sitting in the driver's seat wound up steering a Land Rover into a pond. Only the car was damaged. The other set involved beefs by him and fellow salespeople about the quality of food - hot dogs and chips - to be served at a BMW sales event. Their commissions might be hurt, they agreed, because potential buyers would get the wrong marketing message if served an "over cooked wiener and a stale" bun. Dealership policy forbade employees from being "disrespectful" or using "language which injures the image or reputation of the dealership."

What happened?

A. The salesman was thanked for his helpful marketing suggestions and was treated to a high-end steak dinner.

B. The salesman was fired. No word on whether he later developed a fondness for hot dogs.

C. The salesman was fired, but got his job back after the NLRB intervened on his behalf.

Answer: B. The salesman lost his job, but there is a wrinkle. The NLRB said the company's policy violated the law because it might wrongfully discourage employees from discussing complaints about wages and working conditions. If the salesman had been fired for complaining about the hot dogs, he would have needed to be reinstated, because he and his coworkers believed the hot dog meal would impact their earnings. But the NLRB found that he was fired for the Land Rover photos and comments, speech that is not protected under the National Labor Relations Act. The company had to amend its employee handbook.

SOURCE: NLRB