When a group of waitresses participated in the contest, held at a Hooters in Ontario, Calif., one of the losers was suspicious of the outcome. The winner’s boyfriend and her best friend were judges, after all. Not only that, but the winner had organized the contest. After the waitress complained that the contest was rigged, she was fired.

The human resources department said the waitress was fired for cursing at the winner, and for writing negative social media posts. The waitress disagreed and brought the case before the National Labor Relations Board.

“Engaging in profanity at work or with co-workers online is certainly controversial, especially when the profanity is directed at managers or harms the company’s reputation is certainly a cause for concern. But tolerance for swearing varies from workplace to workplace. The question at the heart of many such cases is whether an employee’s swearing (or alleged swearing) is truly the reason for a firing or other disciplinary action or is it a pretext.

In this case, the judge ruled that the waitress had been fired not for cursing or negative social media posts, but for discussing working conditions. The company was ordered to reinstate her, and she received back pay.

Workers are permitted to discuss wages, hours and working conditions under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. The law, which has been in effect since 1935, applies to private sector employees, and not just unionized ones. It also applies to social media posts and not just spoken words inside the actual workplace.

Sometimes workers get mad about the way they are treated, and sometimes that causes them to swear. If they are fired for swearing, what has been the past practice in similar situations? If swearing is part of the culture, then a dismissal over cursing may not be defensible.

When does swearing related to workplace conditions cross the line? It depends on the situation. According to the NLRB, employee conduct that includes swearing may be vulgar, profane and offensive and still remain protected. On the other hand, according to the NLRB, the conduct may be so egregious, dishonest, threatening, violent or insubordinate that it exceeds the protection of labor law. This issues will always be looked at in a case by case situation. It almost never a black or white issue.