An Ongoing Lesson: Don’t Trash Your Employer on Facebook
By Ben Haber
November 29th, 2010
In the past we’ve seen people get fired for comments they’ve written on their personal Facebook pages. However, despite the many examples out there, some people think it won’t happen to them. Wrong!
In the UK, Kate Furlong (23 years old) was laid off by Royal Bank of Scotland. Following the layoff she wrote a message on Facebook, explaining how excited she was about the development:
I speak for myself when I say WoOOOOooooOooooHOoooOooOoo it was pretty damn obvious something like this was coming. I’m neither stupid nor naive … and quite honestly it is the best news ever as far as I am concerned!
She followed that post up with an additional comment:
It was not unexpected. I’ve just hung on by my fingertips to stick around long enough for a nice payout when they could’ve had me out long ago without a penny! More fool them! Haha! Xx.
You can probably guess what happened next… One of Furlong’s former colleagues saw this post and reported it to management (who were outraged) and decided to fire Furlong and not allow her to receive any redundancy (severance).
Furlong says that she can’t believe she’s been fired by the bank for what essentially amounts to having a chat with her friends outside of work. This isn’t the first time this argument has been debated, and in the U.S., the National Labor Board has stated that worker rights extend to Facebook. Even so, some things are better off not being shared with your entire digital network.
Entry Filed under: Facebook
8 Comments Add your own
1. Cheri | November 29th, 2010 at 10:27 am
Not sure that it really relates to talking with friends– if you put it out on a loud speaker over the city, it would be the same recourse.
2. Ginger Lennon | November 29th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
An Ongoing Lesson: Don’t Trash Your Employer on Facebook http://goo.gl/fb/mT5x6 via @RaceTalk Blog
3. RaceTalk | November 29th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
New RaceTalk Post: An Ongoing Lesson: Don’t Trash Your Employer on Facebook http://bit.ly/gYUfaE
4. Katie Judd | November 29th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Interesting that this woman is suprised by the outcome of her posts. There are plenty of instances where your time outside of the office impacts your job – for instance, if you work at Pepsi, you’re not supposed to be out buying Coke products. On the more obvious level, you’re not supposed to go out partying with friends and get arrested (personal time, mind you) and not expect to have negative consequences at your place of employment. Just because its social media doesn’t mean you’re exempt from common sense and propriety – if that’s a problem, you should probably consider a less professional career. It seems that Kate considered Facebook like a personal diary. Not the case, clearly.
5. Molly Galler | November 29th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Continues to amaze me: RT @RaceTalk New RaceTalk Post: An Ongoing Lesson: Don’t Trash Your Employer on Facebook http://bit.ly/gYUfaE
6. Cheri (Lapane) Keith | November 29th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
Some people will never learn RT @RaceTalk: An Ongoing Lesson: Don't Trash Your Employer on Facebook http://bit.ly/ebqpf2
7. kmjudd | November 29th, 2010 at 7:23 pm
RT @RaceTalk: An Ongoing Lesson: Don't Trash Your Employer on Facebook http://bit.ly/ebqpf2
8. Sally Whiting Bain | November 29th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
RT @kmjudd: RT @RaceTalk: An Ongoing Lesson: Don't Trash Your Employer on Facebook http://bit.ly/ebqpf2
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