Daniels Fund's Ethics Summit addresses how Colorado business tackles social media

With everything out there on social media, is it OK to comb through a potential job candidate's accounts during the hiring process?

Not if you want to respect them ... and make sure all your legal bases are covered, said Mike Severns, president and CEO of Mountain States Employers Council Inc. at an ethics forum Friday.

Severns adds that more and more companies are looking to third-party firms to check out social media accounts of candidates.

"The best practice is to have someone else use the site, and then only bring you relevant hiring information," Severns said.

But Severns was the lone wolf on that particular issue, one of many social media ethical dilemmas addressed at a post-lunch business panel at the Daniels Fund's Ethics Summit at the Grand Hyatt Denver on Friday.

Along with Severns, panelists included Kevin Darst of New Belgium Brewing; Jared Harding of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, which manages social media for the Nuggets, Mammoth and Avalanche sports teams; and Patricia Zakhem of KMGH-7News.

Darst, Harding and Zakhem all had a similar response: that companies can and will use social channels for a variety of things, such as proofing résumés and to learn about employees and job candidates.

"It's people's knee-jerk reaction to go right to Google and Google you," Zakhem said.

"You can tell a lot about a person on how they are on social," Harding added.

But after a candidate is hired, many companies aren't sure when information is critical enough that it shouldn't be shared on employees' social channels, and if they have any way to enforce it, panelists said.

"This is an area where law isn't well-defined ... there's been no Supreme Court rulings," Severns said. "It makes it hard for employers to know what to do, for employers to know what's OK."

Caitlin Hendee is digital producer and social engagement manager for the Denver Business Journal and contributes to the "17th & Lincoln" blog. Email: chendee@bizjournals.com. Phone: 303-803-9226.