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According to a 2009 study done by the internet security firm Proofpoint, 8% of companies with more than 1,000 employees have fired someone for social media actions, a figure that is double what was reported in 2008. Yet, it probably comes as no surprise that Facebook firings, in particular, are on the rise. Cases of employers firing employees for social media slip-ups have been consistent in the news over the past few years. And, just in case you need a "refresher course" on what not to say or post (i.e. photos) online, here's a timeline of 12 ridiculous examples of how FB can get you fired...
1. November 4, 2008: New England Patriots cheerleader Caitlin Davis was cut from the squad over controversial pictures that were posted on her FB page. Davis, then 18 years old, was at a Halloween party when she posed for photos with a passed-out man who was covered in graffiti, including swastikas, anti-Semitic remarks, and profanity. Davis was fired from the squad after the pictures appeared on various websites and caught the attention of the Patriots' management team. She had been the youngest cheerleader ever to make an NFL squad.
2. February 26, 2009: A U.K. teenager was fired for calling her job "boring." According to The Daily Mail, Kimberley Swann posted comments such as... "First day at work. OMG (Oh, my God)! So dull! All I do is shred, holepunch, and scan paper!" Swann was canned after her boss discovered the comments.
3. March 9, 2009: Dan Leone, a stadium operations employee for the Philadelphia Eagles, was fired for voicing his opinion on the team's trading practices via FB. Leone reportedly updated his FB status with, "Dan is [BLEEP] devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver... Damn Eagles R Retarted!"
4. April 27, 2009: A Swiss woman was fired after calling in sick and then logging into FB on her "sick day." Apparently, the woman had a migraine and called out of work because she thought the light from a computer would bother her and she needed to lie in a dark room. When her employer caught her surfing FB, it was presumed that she was indeed well enough to sit in front of a computer, so she was let go.
5. April 28, 2009: A Minnesota nursing home employee was fired after rumors spread that she had posted photos of herself with nude patients on her FB page. Though no nude pictures were found, the employee did have pictures of herself with clothed patients, which violated the home's privacy policy and led to her termination.
6. August 27, 2009: Ashley Payne, a Georgia high school teacher, was forced to resign after the local school board came across pictures of her sipping beer and wine. The pictures, which appeared on Payne's FB page, were from a vacation she had taken that summer, which included a trip to the Guinness Brewery in Ireland. Payne was quoted as saying "I did not think that any of this could jeopardize my job because I was just doing what adults do and have drinks on vacation and being responsible about it." She sued the school district last November. The case is expected to go to trial this fall.
7. February 11, 2010: South Carolina firefighter and paramedic Jason Brown was fired for creating a three-minute long animated video and posting it on FB. The video, which showed a cartoon doctor and paramedic responding to an emergency in a hospital, was meant to be a spoof, Brown said. However, his department didn't find the video funny, calling it "an embarrassment", and Brown was fired.
8. March 3, 2010: Gloria Gadsden, a professor at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, was fired after updating her FB status with things such as... "Does anyone know where I can find a very discrete hitman? Yes, it's been that kind of day." The school said it was being overcautious because of the February 12th shootings at the University of Alabama, in which professor Amy Bishop was charged with killing three fellow professors.
9. May 17, 2010: North Carolina waitress Ashley Johnson was fired from her job at a Brixx Pizzeria after posting a negative comment about two of her customers. Johnson called the customers who left her a $5.00 tip after sitting at their table for three hours "cheap." Though she did not mention the names of the customers, Johnson did include the name of the pizzeria in her post. A few days later, management called her to tell her she was fired for violating the restaurant's social media policy.
10. May 24, 2010: The city of West Allis, WI fired a veteran police dispatcher of 21 years over a status update. Dana Kuchler was terminated after posting that she was "addicted to vicodin, adderall, quality marijuana, MD 20/20 grape and absinthe" on her FB page. Despite saying the post was a joke, Kuchler was terminated by the city. Her union then filed an appeal, claiming the punishment was too harsh for the crime. The arbitrator agreed, instead sentencing Kuchler to a 30-day suspension without pay. The city is currently in the process of appealing the new decision in an attempt to have Kuchler's termination reinstated.
11. June 10, 2010: Five California nurses were terminated after it was discovered that they were discussing patient cases on the site. The situation was investigated for weeks by both the nurses' employer, Tri-City Medical Center in San Diego, and the California Department of Health before the nurses were fired for allegedly violating privacy laws.
12. June 21, 2010: A Pittsburgh Pirates' mascot was fired earlier this summer, after posting a comment about the team's choice to extend the contracts of two of its managers. Andrew Kurtz, 24 years old, was fired within hours of posting the comment "Coonelly extended the contracts of Russell and Huntington through the 2011 season. That means a 19-straight losing streak. Way to go Pirates" to his FB page.
Whether you think the above examples are merely employees exercising their right to free speech or sheer stupidity, it seems that FB postings have become fair grounds for termination at many companies these days. And, like it or not, this will probably continue into the future as more and more employers develop strict policies regarding what you "can and cannot do" on FB, if you plan to remain in their employ. Considering the fact that most people join social networks for the benefit of "personal" interaction with family and friends or networking in general, much of the scrutiny of our FB pages by employers seems petty and they should have better things to do with their time... like run their companies. (There's a thought!) It's almost as though some of them are actually "looking for reasons" to terminate people. (Don't rule out that possibility!)
Until some of these cases are decided by the courts and the rights of all parties involved are clearly defined, I guess the best thing to do is watch what you say and the photos you post on social networks of any kind. Also, don't be afraid of your privacy settings and take full advantage of using them whenever necessary. Always remember that you can control what co-workers and/or employers see when they visit your FB page... and, for now, that might be your best defense. Of course, your ultimate defense would be to rethink your decision to "friend" anyone connected to your job... which in my mind, would also include clients, customers, constituents, etc. who can voice their opinions to your employer about something they saw on your FB page. I mean, is it really necesssary to "friend" them? Don't you have to deal with that kind of foolishness enough at work?
P.S. The ultimate defense can also be used for those people who constantly feel the need to judge you too harshly for merely being a "human being", based on the contents of your Facebook page. They have not been appointed by GOD to sit in judgement of you. Please, don't even get me started on them!
1. November 4, 2008: New England Patriots cheerleader Caitlin Davis was cut from the squad over controversial pictures that were posted on her FB page. Davis, then 18 years old, was at a Halloween party when she posed for photos with a passed-out man who was covered in graffiti, including swastikas, anti-Semitic remarks, and profanity. Davis was fired from the squad after the pictures appeared on various websites and caught the attention of the Patriots' management team. She had been the youngest cheerleader ever to make an NFL squad.
2. February 26, 2009: A U.K. teenager was fired for calling her job "boring." According to The Daily Mail, Kimberley Swann posted comments such as... "First day at work. OMG (Oh, my God)! So dull! All I do is shred, holepunch, and scan paper!" Swann was canned after her boss discovered the comments.
3. March 9, 2009: Dan Leone, a stadium operations employee for the Philadelphia Eagles, was fired for voicing his opinion on the team's trading practices via FB. Leone reportedly updated his FB status with, "Dan is [BLEEP] devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver... Damn Eagles R Retarted!"
4. April 27, 2009: A Swiss woman was fired after calling in sick and then logging into FB on her "sick day." Apparently, the woman had a migraine and called out of work because she thought the light from a computer would bother her and she needed to lie in a dark room. When her employer caught her surfing FB, it was presumed that she was indeed well enough to sit in front of a computer, so she was let go.
5. April 28, 2009: A Minnesota nursing home employee was fired after rumors spread that she had posted photos of herself with nude patients on her FB page. Though no nude pictures were found, the employee did have pictures of herself with clothed patients, which violated the home's privacy policy and led to her termination.
6. August 27, 2009: Ashley Payne, a Georgia high school teacher, was forced to resign after the local school board came across pictures of her sipping beer and wine. The pictures, which appeared on Payne's FB page, were from a vacation she had taken that summer, which included a trip to the Guinness Brewery in Ireland. Payne was quoted as saying "I did not think that any of this could jeopardize my job because I was just doing what adults do and have drinks on vacation and being responsible about it." She sued the school district last November. The case is expected to go to trial this fall.
7. February 11, 2010: South Carolina firefighter and paramedic Jason Brown was fired for creating a three-minute long animated video and posting it on FB. The video, which showed a cartoon doctor and paramedic responding to an emergency in a hospital, was meant to be a spoof, Brown said. However, his department didn't find the video funny, calling it "an embarrassment", and Brown was fired.
8. March 3, 2010: Gloria Gadsden, a professor at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, was fired after updating her FB status with things such as... "Does anyone know where I can find a very discrete hitman? Yes, it's been that kind of day." The school said it was being overcautious because of the February 12th shootings at the University of Alabama, in which professor Amy Bishop was charged with killing three fellow professors.
9. May 17, 2010: North Carolina waitress Ashley Johnson was fired from her job at a Brixx Pizzeria after posting a negative comment about two of her customers. Johnson called the customers who left her a $5.00 tip after sitting at their table for three hours "cheap." Though she did not mention the names of the customers, Johnson did include the name of the pizzeria in her post. A few days later, management called her to tell her she was fired for violating the restaurant's social media policy.
10. May 24, 2010: The city of West Allis, WI fired a veteran police dispatcher of 21 years over a status update. Dana Kuchler was terminated after posting that she was "addicted to vicodin, adderall, quality marijuana, MD 20/20 grape and absinthe" on her FB page. Despite saying the post was a joke, Kuchler was terminated by the city. Her union then filed an appeal, claiming the punishment was too harsh for the crime. The arbitrator agreed, instead sentencing Kuchler to a 30-day suspension without pay. The city is currently in the process of appealing the new decision in an attempt to have Kuchler's termination reinstated.
11. June 10, 2010: Five California nurses were terminated after it was discovered that they were discussing patient cases on the site. The situation was investigated for weeks by both the nurses' employer, Tri-City Medical Center in San Diego, and the California Department of Health before the nurses were fired for allegedly violating privacy laws.
12. June 21, 2010: A Pittsburgh Pirates' mascot was fired earlier this summer, after posting a comment about the team's choice to extend the contracts of two of its managers. Andrew Kurtz, 24 years old, was fired within hours of posting the comment "Coonelly extended the contracts of Russell and Huntington through the 2011 season. That means a 19-straight losing streak. Way to go Pirates" to his FB page.
Whether you think the above examples are merely employees exercising their right to free speech or sheer stupidity, it seems that FB postings have become fair grounds for termination at many companies these days. And, like it or not, this will probably continue into the future as more and more employers develop strict policies regarding what you "can and cannot do" on FB, if you plan to remain in their employ. Considering the fact that most people join social networks for the benefit of "personal" interaction with family and friends or networking in general, much of the scrutiny of our FB pages by employers seems petty and they should have better things to do with their time... like run their companies. (There's a thought!) It's almost as though some of them are actually "looking for reasons" to terminate people. (Don't rule out that possibility!)
Until some of these cases are decided by the courts and the rights of all parties involved are clearly defined, I guess the best thing to do is watch what you say and the photos you post on social networks of any kind. Also, don't be afraid of your privacy settings and take full advantage of using them whenever necessary. Always remember that you can control what co-workers and/or employers see when they visit your FB page... and, for now, that might be your best defense. Of course, your ultimate defense would be to rethink your decision to "friend" anyone connected to your job... which in my mind, would also include clients, customers, constituents, etc. who can voice their opinions to your employer about something they saw on your FB page. I mean, is it really necesssary to "friend" them? Don't you have to deal with that kind of foolishness enough at work?
P.S. The ultimate defense can also be used for those people who constantly feel the need to judge you too harshly for merely being a "human being", based on the contents of your Facebook page. They have not been appointed by GOD to sit in judgement of you. Please, don't even get me started on them!
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1 comment:
Yes, I take this communications business on the Internet very seriously. I try to remember that things broadcast on the web can not be recinded. Once "it's" out there, it's out there and anybody can use it any way they want. I'm carefull when I comment on political things because of my job and our IT folks like to play peek-a-boo, then use what they find when they need it. I'll tell you a story, in person.
Love you!!
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