On May 20, 2022, in McVey v AtlantiCare Medical System, the New Jersey Appellate Division Panel affirmed the dismissal of an employee’s case holding that her termination was not in violation of the protections afforded to speech. After losing her job for posting racist comments on social media, Plaintiff, Heather J. McVey, learned that freedom of speech, like all rights, is not absolute. Background McVey joined AtlantiCare Medical System as a nurse in 2005. Over the next decade and a half, she received various promotions leading up to her final role as Corporate Director of Customer Service. McVey displayed her job title and her employer’s name on her private Facebook profile, thereby associating her with AtlantiCare. AtlantiCare maintained a written Social Media Policy, which cautioned its employees, especially those who identify themselves as AtlantiCare employees on social media, to take “proper consideration of privacy and of topics that may be considered objectionable or inflammatory – such as politics or religion.” The policy did not prohibit a substantial portion of speech on social media, rather, employees were asked to “respect your audience and your coworkers.” After the death of George Floyd, McVey responded to an open-ended Facebook post asking: “Do […]
