By Peter Bacque
Published: September 15, 2009
Facebook is off the hook with the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission.
The commission ordered on Aug. 28 that Facebook Inc. be fined $200 a day for
failing to comply with a subpoena for documents related to an injured worker's
activities on the pages of the social media's Web site.
Facebook, which has more than 250 million users worldwide, objected to handing
over Shana L. Hensley's information.
"There are federal statutes that, in our opinion, prohibit us from releasing the
information they request," said Barry Schnitt, Facebook's director of policy
communications in Palo Alto, Calif.
"Facebook is built on trust," Schnitt said, "and users rely on us to enforce their
privacy settings."
Randolph P. Tabb Jr., the workers' compensation commission's deputy
commissioner, ruled yesterday that the federal Electronic Communications
Privacy Act prohibits Facebook from disclosing the information.
And, in any event, Hensley is willing to allow her former employer, Colgan Air
Inc., access to her Facebook activities, said her Northern Virginia attorney,
Julie H. Heiden.
"We'll just go ahead and sign a release," Heiden said. "She has nothing to hide."
As a result, Charles F. Midkiff, Colgan's Richmond lawyer, said "it becomes
a non-issue."
Hensley, 31, of McGaheysville was a flight attendant with the regional airline.
She injured her back in January 2007 when she was exiting her plane at the
Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport, tripped and fell on the airliner's steps.
Hensley is requesting workers' compensation benefits as a result of the injury.
People log on to Facebook to keep up with friends, upload photos, share links
and videos, and learn about other people.
Through privacy settings, the site allows users to control whom they share
information with, Schnitt said.
Hensley has 10 days to either give her signed consent for the information's
release or decline to do so.
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