“Risks Associated with Social Media – The Need For Appropriate Social Media Policies”

Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and numerous other social media outlets have become enormously popular in recent years, both socially and for business purposes.  Indeed, a social media strategy has quickly become a part of many business plans.  Despite the many positives with these technological advances, there are many risks to businesses when employees utilize such tools.  For example, employees may use social media to make inappropriate comments that, rightly or wrongly, bring negative publicity to the employing company.  In addition, employee use of social media may create exposure to potential liability for things such as unlawful harassment, defamation, invasion of privacy, retaliation, discrimination, and misappropriating trade secrets and other confidential information.  To help manage these risks, a company should implement an effective social media policy and educate its employees on the parameters of the policy.

Topics for this presentation include identifying social media, identifying ways in which social media can undermine a company’s reputation, identifying ways in which social media can expose a company to potential liability, and developing policies that help reduce the risks associated with the use of social media.

Legal Academy: Full-Day Seminar

Learn about the latest legal updates along with the best employment practices!

DATE: Tuesday, February 28, 2012

TIME: 7:30 am – 5:00 pm

LOCATION: Gannett/USA Today Building, First Amendment Dining Room – 7950 Jones Branch Drive, McLean, VA 22107

PARKING/DIRECTIONS: Please park on level P2 (follow signs to Service/Employee Entrance or Event parking)

Mr. Stern has been practicing law for more than 15 years. Prior to joining Hyatt & Weber, P.A., Mr. Stern was a partner at Ross, Dixon & Bell, LLP, and, most recently, he was with Thompson, Loss & Judge, LLP, both in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Stern has successfully represented clients in federal and state courts and before federal, state, and local administrative agencies. His cases have involved various types of contract, tort, and statutory claims, some of which have resulted in jury and non-jury trials. Mr. Stern also has advised companies on various strategic matters, such as trade secret protection programs, wage and hour and other employment practices, privacy concerns, insurance coverage, independent contractor agreements and other business contracts, and document retention practices. Please click here to learn more about Stephen Stern.

Whether it is responding to an employee complaint, a customer complaint, a government investigation, or some other issue, it seems that companies are devoting more time and resources to conducting investigations.  The appropriateness of the company’s response can potentially help the company avoid liability, maintain a customer relationship, and protect its image, among other things.  Thus, it is important to develop appropriate procedures for conducting investigations.  

On Thursday, February 16, 2012, at 6:00 p.m.

Stephen B. Stern

• Social Security
• Social Supplemental Income (SSI)
• Veterans Benefits
• Railroad Retirement and Railroad Unemployment Benefits
• Federal Employee Retirement Benefits

The new rule does not protect military pay or retirement benefits, Coast Guard payments or other federal agencies.  In addition, garnishment orders from the federal government or state child support enforcement agencies are not covered by the rule. 

According to the National Consumer Law Center, if a bank receives a garnishment order, the bank will be required to determine whether an account contains electronically deposited federal benefit payments.  If so, the bank is obligated to protect two months of the federal deposit payments from seizure to satisfy garnishment orders.

To protect funds deposited before the two-month time period, or deposited by check, the recipient will have to follow the state procedure for claiming exemptions.

The analysis, presented by Anirban Basu, chairman and CEO of Sage Policy Group, Inc. at an Annapolis Economic Development Corporation meeting Wednesday, concludes that the project will create approximately 1,400 permanent jobs in the city of Annapolis and more than 1,800 permanent jobs in the State of Maryland.

According to the report, 2,000 jobs will be created during construction, with 1,620 of the jobs in the City of Annapolis and 1,220 of the jobs directly on the Crystal Spring site. Once fully operational, the project should generate 1,829 permanent jobs, including 1,112 jobs created directly by the development and 717 jobs that support the development. The positions would be a mix of white collar, healthcare and retail.
“To add 900 jobs a year saves employment,” said Lara Fritts, president and CEO, Annapolis Economic Development Corporation. “Who doesn’t want that for their community?”

Plans for the development are currently under review by the City of Annapolis. Pending approval from the Maryland Department of Aging, phased construction could begin in 2012.
 


Basu’s report stated that each year, the project will generate more than $900,000 in net fiscal benefits for the City of Annapolis and more than $1.3 million for Anne Arundel County. Once the project is complete, Crystal Spring will produce more than $250 million of business sales annually, with nearly $190 million of those sales occurring locally.

“Seniors don’t want to be isolated from their community – they want to be a part of it,” stated Andrew Bing, community spokesperson for Crystal Spring at an Annapolis Economic Development Corporation meeting on Wednesday.



Crystal Spring’s main feature includes the proposed Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC) with a clubhouse facility, 350 residence apartments and one-story private and duplex homes for seniors. Plans include 50 healthcare beds for a complete range of on-site holistic wellness and medical services. In addition, 125 non age-restricted townhomes will be located within the retail village. Pricing has not yet been decided.

The development will be built on property owned by Annapolis residents Janet Richardson-Pearson, an ASID-certified interior designer, and her husband, retired Rear Adm. William “Bill” Pearson. The land, known as Mas-Que Farm and Crystal Spring Farm, is located along Forest Drive and Spa Road.



A portion of the 180-acre property will remain within the city limits, with 75 acres of developable land along Spa Road to remain as open space subject to a conservation easement.

Approximately 123 acres—or 70 percent of the entire site—will be green/open space allocated for the project’s lawns, forest cover, village green, walking trails, water features, wetlands, critical areas and landscaped outdoor gathering/dining areas. According to an earlier press release, existing views of the equestrian facilities and pastures will remain largely unchanged from Spa Road.

Crystal Spring is a shuttle ride away from the Historic Annapolis business district. Some may choose not to leave since their community includes a grocery store, retail stores, a boutique inn and day spa, outdoor restaurants, cafe and an ice cream parlor. A cultural arts center and a central village green will also spotlight community performances and events.



Since most of the shops are self-contained, Bing said the development should not impede traffic flow.


“We feel our project will capture a lot of traffic that would otherwise have to travel to Forest Drive,” he said.

At the meeting, the Crystal Spring Development team assured Annapolis residents that a traffic study is still in the works. At least one participant did not mind the disturbance.



“I would take 1,400 jobs for my neighbors for a couple extra minutes of traffic,” relayed Fritts.



Crystal Spring is led by Crystal Spring Development LLC and Annapolis Attorney Alan J. Hyatt of Hyatt & Weber P.A. The team includes Forest Drive LLC, Annapolis, FreemanWhite, Charlotte, N.C. and Streetsense, Bethesda, Md.

Historic Annapolis Patch

By Laura Wilson

http://www.crystalspringannapolis.com/news/65-forest-drive-development-could-bring-jobs-annapolis-analysts-say

The court will examine two cases from the South involving minor killers who are serving life sentences for crimes they committed when they were 14 yrs old. The cases are Miller v. Alabama, 10-9646 and Jackson v. Arkansas, 10-9647.  Both of the cases were brought by the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery,Alabama, a nonprofit organization that provides legal representation to indigent defendants and prisoners who have been denied fair and just treatment in the legal system. The institute maintains that life without parole for children so young “is cruel and unusual” and violates the Constitution. According to the group, roughly six dozen people in 18 states are under life sentences and ineligible for parole for crimes they committed at 13 or 14 yrs old.

In recent times, the Supreme Court has moved toward judging juveniles less responsible than adults when considering severe sentences. In 2005, the court ruled out the use of the death penalty for people under 18 yrs. of age. Then, in May 2010, the court said that teenagers may not be locked up for life without a chance of parole if they have not killed anyone. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion in both of those decisions.

The court is scheduled to hear arguments next year.

Source: The Daily Record/ The Associated Press

Source: http://www.annapolis.gov/Government/Council/Pending/Ordinances/O-31-11.pdf

The candidates are:

• Andrew H. Baida
• Donald E. Beachley
• Stuart R. Berger
• Karen Louise Federman Henry
• Robert Neal McDonald
• Audrey J.S. Carrion
• Toni Evon Clarke
• Melanie Marva Shaw Geter
• Pamela Janice White

O’Malley, if he keeps to his past judicial selection practice, will pick from this list a nominee to fill the Court of Special Appeals vacancy created when Ellen L. Hollander became a U.S. District Court judge in Baltimore on Jan. 4.

Source: The Daily Record

The Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists will appear in Maryland Super Lawyers magazine which will be mailed to attorneys in Maryland and the ABA-accredited law school libraries.  Selected attorneys in Maryland will also appear in a special advertising section in the January 2012 issue of Baltimore magazine.  These publications will reach a combined audience of more than 302,000 readers.