SOCIAL MEDIA: LIABILITIES AND COVERAGE
Social media has taken the world by storm. Facebook has 500 million members. Twitter counts 50million "tweets" per day. You are in it. Or thinking of getting in it. Notwithstanding millions of "friends," substantial liabilities are lurking. Businesses must be prepared.
Come join lawyers from McCarter & English for an in-depth review of the potential liabilities attendant to social media and best practices for reducing the risk of liability. We will cover employment, security, privacy and other issues, and also lay out where insurance coverage may (or may not) be found.
Liabilities:
This program reviews recent legal developments in the area of social media in the workplace and off duty. We will review recent decisions that impact an employer's right to access employee communications and discipline employees for misconduct involving social networking activities occurring at work, at home, using company systems and home systems. We will review limitations on the right to privacy, requirements of the Stored Communications Act, FTC requirements for internet endorsements by corporate representatives, discrimination and harassment implications of social media, whistle blowing, employee speech, and the NLRB's recent interest in the reach of employers' social media policies. Finally, we will discuss best practices for avoiding liability arising out of an employee's misuse of these new technologies.
Coverage:
Liabilities arising from social media are not easily cast all in a general liability policy basket. Management needs to focus on all of its insurance assets and make sure each is up to the task, which may require venturing beyond the CGL, property and EPLI coverages traditionally purchased, and procuring cyberliability and/or media policies. Even the traditional policies have wrinkles that must be ironed out. For example, is a Facebook wall the equivalent of an electronic bulletin board, often excluded under "personal and advertising injury" coverage? In the employment setting how do you address allegations of invasion of privacy, when that is often excluded from employment practices coverage? Our coverage discussion will address these policies and these issues, and more.
TIME:
Registration: 8:30 AM
Continental Breakfast: 8:30-9:00 AM
Program: 9:00-10:30 AM
DATES / LOCATIONS:
This presentation will be available at the following McCarter & English locations.
Boston Office-February 1, 2011
New York Office-February 3, 2011
Newark Office-February 8, 2011
Philadelphia Office-February 9, 2011
PANELISTS:
Each seminar panel will include two or more of the following McCarter & English attorneys:
M. Carolina Avellaneda,Partner, Labor & Employment Practice Group
Louis Chiafullo, Partner, Insurance Coverage Practice Group
Thomas Doherty, Partner, Labor & Employment Practice Group
J. Wylie Donald, Partner, Insurance Coverage Practice Group
Christopher Mayer, Partner, Labor & Employment Practice Group
John McKelway, Partner, Labor & Employment Practice Group
Pamela Moore, Partner, Labor & Employment Practice Group
Sherilyn Pastor, Partner, Insurance Coverage Practice Group
To RSVP:
Please call Christine Bongard at 973.848.5399 or email
cbongard@mccarter.com.
This CLE program has been approved in accordance with the requirements of the New York Continuing Legal Education Board for a maximum of one and a half credit hours, which can be applied towards the Skills requirement.
This program has been approved by the Board on Continuing Legal Education of the Supreme Court of New Jersey for one and a half hours total CLE credit. Of this, zero qualify as hours of credit for ethics/professionalism, and zero qualify as hours of credit toward certification in civil trial law, criminal trial law, workers compensation law and/or matrimonial law.
Pennsylvania CLE credit - application pending.