employee rights to not have their name posted on the company website

[bay venn]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? WA

Does a company own your name while you are in their employ? I do not wish my name to be posted on the company website and it has been against my wishes. The company believes it owns my work which includes my name.

Thank you,
Bay Venn

 

[eerelations]

The company does not own your name. However, the fact that you work there is legally not confidential information. The company therefore has the legal right to publish or advertise the fact that you work there. The only way it can do this is by using your name.

What do you think the company is supposed to do when someone calls and asks for you? Hang up because they're not allowed to let on whether you work there or not?

Just curious - why don't you want your name listed on the company website?

 

[LeeHarveyBlotto]

If that's the OP's real name, I'd understand.

 

[bay venn]

right to not have one's name on company website

I moonlight as a musician, and as a pretty woman I have had negative encounters with drunk men in clubs. I do not wish for some weird guy to decide to stalk me at my day job.

When someone calls me at work they would already know I work there. The issue is advertising my name on the web.

Also, if it is always the case that the company has the right how would a woman who is a victim of abuse ever find a job? This would be discriminating against women escaping domestic abuse. There have been cases where the ex came to the place of employment and killed the woman.

Thank you.
Bay

 

[justalayman]

so, you give these drunk guys you meet in the clubs your real name?

 

[ecmst12]

Well, if she uses her real name as the name she performs under, then yeah.

I'm sure in cases of domestic violence, the company would make an exception to putting the name on the web site. Where there is a legitmate safety concern. And if you ever have a REAL stalker, not just a one time encounter with a drunk guy in a club, you might have a good reason to ask for the same.

 

[justalayman]

Well, if she uses her real name as the name she performs under, then yeah.
.

she speaks as if this is common so if it is, it is her fault for giving the drunk guys her name. Why do you think alice cooper uses that name? it's because all the drunk girls wouldn't leave him alone.


just kidding with the last part.

 

[wyett717]

she speaks as if this is common so if it is, it is her fault for giving the drunk guys her name.

It's very possible that the guys get her name from the signs posted at the club advertising the performance.

 

[You Are Guilty]

If you don't want your name on the company's website, there's a very simple solution - don't work there. Then they would have no right to post it.

Problem solved.

 

[eerelations]

Anyhoo, all this stuff aside, the company has the legal right to post the OP's name on its website, and to fire the OP if she causes a fuss about it - even if she can prove that she is the victim of an illegal stalker. What the company actually does in these circumstances is not for us to say, given that we're not mind readers or fortune tellers. All we can do is advise the OP about the legalities of the situation, and we have done that.

 

[pattytx]

Agree with eerelations.

OP, have you even talked to HR about this? In what context is your name being included?

 

[justalayman]

It's very possible that the guys get her name from the signs posted at the club advertising the performance.

ee has given a quite proper and complete response to the OP's question.


as to the signs; ever hear of a stage name? Apparently if the OP has problems such as this, she should take actions to protect her identity. Now, you don't really think my name is "justalayman" do you? Of course not. I use a screen name to protect my identity. She should so the same with a stage name.

I can see it now.

you have a new baby. and you are naming him/her what?

Slash
Marilyn Manson
Alice Cooper
John Wayne
Marilyn Monroe

and thousands upon thousands of others.

Especially in todays world, one must take actions to protect themselves. Arguing about your name on a company list is not going to happen so you take whatever other means are available.

 

[bay venn]

1 in every 6 women are sexually abused, 1 in 33 for men. It is a huge problem that is really not getting better, possibly worse due to crack and crystal meth.

The company is supposedly very progressive and "politically correct", and supportive of people's needs. They have agreed to respect my wishes in the past, but currently the person who does the web postings feels it is too much for her to keep track of due to her work load. However, there are only two or three postings in a year where my would need to be omitted.

The context of using my name is just being included in a list of people who work there on a few reports.

I don't have a problem using my name performing, I have an unlisted number and my home address is not on the web. A musician builds a fan base over many years. Some of the stage names listed were chosen because they sounded cooler than their real name - everyone knows Bob Dylan is really Robert Zimmerman, etc.

Yes, my question was answered and I appreciate this resource for finding out what the law is. It is sad that a woman does not have the right to restrict the use of her name on the WORLDWIDE web. Previous to the internet she would have only had to be concerned about a company brochure in some mailing, or in the yellow pages.

Thank you for your feedback.

 

[ecmst12]

It would be stupid for a musician with an established identity and fan base with one name to suddenly start performing under a different name. It may have been a smart idea to choose a stage name when she FIRST started performing, but it's too late to do something like that NOW.

 

[cbg]

When and if you are able to go to your employer and provide them with a real and valid reason to believe that your safety WILL be compromised by their posting your name on their website, and that the only possible way the person endangering your safety can find your identity is through your employer's website, I'm sure they will be happy to work with you. Not a, well, maybe some drunk in future might happen on my name there; a REAL, LEGITIMATE and VALID reason to believe that you are in REAL and IMMINENT danger.

Until such time, since no law prohibits an employer from posting their employee's names unless the employee agrees, they may do so. There does not have to be a specific law granting them permission to do so; the fact that no law prohibits it is enough to make it legal for them to post your name.