The only glass we worried about for our guests, we were in the ceiling. Now come the biggest headaches for employers from head-on collisions with the glass door. For those unfamiliar with Glassdoor.com, it started in 2007 and is an active online “job community” of 30 million people that provides company profiles posted by those who claim to be employees and former employees. Profiles include company evaluations, salary reports, CEO evaluations, and information about the hiring process. All content is created by the user. And that is the practical and legal problem. Anonymous contributors can essentially post whatever they want, making employers incredibly vulnerable to attacks with minimal recourse. As soon as you discover a defamatory or bad review, take a screenshot to get the evidence. If you have other evidence that proves the review is fake, work to preserve it as well. If you find yourself in a position where you need to take legal action, you need to have supporting documents at your disposal. Note: If you have reason to believe that the review is fraudulent, fake, or not from an actual employee, this is probably not the best approach. In such a case, it is best to label the content or take legal action, as we will describe later. This goes hand in hand with our latest proposal.
Bribes are not among the value-based companies that strive to build a healthy culture. Offering bribes could lead to an increase in negative reviews or, worse, legal sanctions. Paid reviews are strictly prohibited under Glassdoor`s policy. If you report a Glassdoor review and it is not removed and you believe it violates the Community Guidelines, we recommend that you seek legal help as soon as possible. While clients can often resolve a negative situation with exemplary customer service and management skills, an employee-employer relationship may sometimes have deteriorated or be so strained that it is wise to seek legal help to deal with it. Several important factors that may affect the cost of your lawsuit include: A sincere apology and the opportunity to feel heard can be enough to resolve many issues and opinions without the need for legal action or abuse reports to Glassdoor. In the past year, we`ve twice successfully persuaded Glassdoor to remove content about two of our customers for violating the “Community Guidelines.” We`re here to advise you on the limited legal and other ways to address this new online challenge and, if not more importantly, strategies to avoid stumbling upon Glassdoor in the first place. Online reputation fact: Online reputation management (ORM) refers to influencing and controlling one`s own online reputation. ORM is closely related to public relations and typically focuses on monitoring and repairing reputations, as well as preventing and repairing damage.
ORM can be a very useful service for content that is still newsworthy, has gone viral, is related to a serious crime, or when legal action to remove content takes too long. Generating fake reviews or offering to pay employees for positive reviews is illegal and prohibited by law under the Federal Trade Commission`s approval guidelines. Employees could not only expose dishonest tactics, but also violate Glassdoor`s policies. While not liking softball is a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason to fire someone, and we would also like to see a child`s “.7,” the employer told the transgender employee that he was fired because the message showed a lack of judgment and ethical values. An administrative judge at the National Labor Relations Board had previously dismissed a lawsuit filed by the same employee, rejecting the allegation that Glassdoor`s employment was a “concerted protected activity” related to terms and conditions of employment. The judge described the message as a “tantrum” and “childish mockery.” However, the EEOC case is still at the beginning and the legal issues are different. We will keep an eye on that. If you respond to the review, the review may become even more visible in your online search results.
A response may also make it more difficult to remove the review at a later date if you decide to report and report it or take legal action, so we encourage you to contact the author privately. It`s not always easy to get a review removed by Glassdoor, especially if the review is defamatory. Most platforms, like Glassdoor, like to remain neutral and don`t judge if reviews contain incorrect information that they can`t easily verify. Once you`ve exhausted all your alternatives, litigation is usually needed to get negative reviews removed. If you`re dealing with a fake reviewer or an anonymous reviewer, removing the content will likely be more complicated – you`ll have to take legal action John Doe. A John Doe trial is the process by which you can discover the true identity of an anonymous poster. A case involving Glassdoor and the Electronic Freedom Foundation is at the heart of online free speech. “He`s a client who only shares his honest opinion of his employer,” says Gilens. “The employer is trying to denounce them without even claiming that they participated in the defamation.” If you know who the examiner is and he was actually an employee of your company, chances are you`ll face a contentious lawsuit. Filing a defamation claim over the internet requires both tact and strategy, so it`s important to discuss potential risks, costs, defenses, and privileges with an experienced attorney.
Not only is this a bad deal, but threatening employees is also likely to backfire. Maintaining a positive online reputation starts with building a value-driven culture. Glassdoor`s mission is to help people find a job and a business they love. Content that violates the Glassdoor Terms of Service can easily be reported and removed by Glassdoor. According to the Community Guidelines, some of the content that Glassdoor deems inappropriate includes: If a face-to-face phone call is not possible (or convenient), you can contact Glassdoor for assistance. Glassdoor has policies against fake reviews, defamatory reviews, and inappropriate content. When deciding how to resolve the situation, it is important to consider the following: The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) recently filed a motion to lift a subpoena on behalf of a former cryptocurrency exchange employee named Kraken after the company alleged in a lawsuit that the employee violated a termination agreement that did not allow him to disclose confidential information about the Company. disparage or defame the company after termination of employment. Kraken apparently hopes to know the identity of this former employee through the summons. It may not be the best way to convince a court that the statements about the firm are false, but what do we labour lawyers know? We know this: Glassdoor and similar sites are relatively immune to direct claims on messages, even if they are defamatory. In case you`re not already excited about the prospect of being shredded online without much recourse, Glassdoor upped the ante last week with the help of the EEOC.
The federal agency sued a California employer who left a transgender employee who was fired after admitting to posting the following statement on Glassdoor: “If you`re not a family or Asian, heterosexual, or traditional gay person with 1.7 kids who really loves softball, then you`ll likely be outside. Most leaders don`t know what the word “discrimination” means. “We can`t speak to why they filed this complaint, of course, but from our perspective, it appears to be a vindictive lawsuit aimed at targeting former employees for honest opinions about the company and preventing others from doing the same,” Gilens said. Glassdoor Help Center. Report inappropriate content (report a review) (2020). Glassdoor Help Center. Tips for writing a review to avoid defamation (2019). Whether it`s an anonymous online troll, a disgruntled employee or ex-employee, a jealous and embittered professional competitor, or a dissatisfied customer, this happens to every business. It is crucial that you act to remove the negative or incorrect review as soon as possible. And our favorite: “Working here is psychological torture” – which unfortunately describes every law firm in America, so you`re not defamatory. Once you`ve made contact, it`s extremely important to actively listen and take care of yourself. Let the employee know that their feedback is appreciated.
Give them the opportunity to speak and offer honest reviews.