Protecting families, finances and furry friends!

A teacher’s aide in Michigan was removed from her position after refusing to give the district access to her Facebook page.

Last April the aide jokingly posted a photo of a coworker to her personal Facebook page. The picture showed a pair of shoes and pants around the ankle. A parent who was friends with the aide told the school about the picture. The aide was then asked by the Superintendent for access to her Facebook account, but the aide refused. The aide is now on unpaid leave with scheduled arbitration to take place in May.

Michigan Republican state representatives have pending legislation that would make it illegal for employers to request employees’ login information for social networking sites. However, the U.S. House of Representatives recently struck down an amendment that would prevent companies from requiring current or potential employees to give up their passwords to social networking sites to employers.

It is against Facebook’s Terms of Service for an employer to make such a password request. Facebook has also issued a statement reinforcing its commitment to user privacy and threatening lawsuits against companies who request passwords.