Lauri F. Rasnick and Marc A. Mandelman, Members of the Firm in the Employment, Labor, and Workforce Management practice, in the firm’s New York office, co-authored an article in Reuters Westlaw Today, titled “Viral Layoff Videos Are Trending: Employers Should Proceed with Caution.”
Following is an excerpt:
Epstein Becker & Green members Lauri Rasnick and Marc Mandelman suggest best practices for employers when they terminate employees, including assuming that some employees may record termination meetings and share them on social media.
Not having a clear plan for an employee's separation process is a mistake — one that can be potentially costly, if not just plain embarrassing, especially in an era of virtual workplaces and pervasive social media platforms. That was spotlighted earlier this year by a viral video in which an individual who had been employed by Cloudflare shared her termination meeting with the world via TikTok.
The layoff video had hundreds of thousands of views and has now been analyzed by countless people. In addition, it has inspired many other workers to film and post their own termination meetings. Employers seeking to avoid the harm that can arise from a poorly executed termination should prepare and consider questions that confront both legal issues and practical matters.
