Case Study: Facebook Posting Leads to Firing
In one recent March 2011 case, a Yorktown School District in New York State fired five employees for a “practical joke” Facebook post.1 The five tied up, shrink wrapped, and photographed another employee on school grounds. They then posted the picture on Facebook, and administrators found out about the incident when a message was sent to the head of grounds and maintenance. It was not flagged with any type of monitoring software. Even though no charges were pressed, as the tied-up employee was in on the joke, the employees were still fired. One is trying to get his job back. Since the tied-up employee was not being harassed or hazed, they probably thought it was not a problem, but the district thought differently.
1Plamena Pesheva, “One of Four Yorktown School District Employees Fired After ‘Practical Joke’ Seeks Reinstatement,” Yorktown Patch (March 25, 2011), http://yorktown.patch.com/articles/one-of-four-yorktown-school-district-employees-fired-after-practical-joke-seeks-reinstatement.
A number of issues here are subject to interpretation. In this case, the HR department was not proactively monitoring for incidents associated with the school. What they could have done better was have proactive monitoring solutions in place rather than relying on word of mouth to notify them if something inappropriate was happening in the social media sphere that needs to be addressed. HR cannot rely on ad hoc methods. They could also have had a social media policy that defines how any details or connections to the school can and cannot be used on social networks. The employee trying to get his job back could challenge the district on not having in-depth social media current policies in place. Were there any written policies that defined appropriate behavior and were employees given training about the rules and regulations of the job?
Social network–based information has been more prevalent in the news in regards to both hiring and firings. It is still not clear what constitutes a firing offense or what postings may hinder a person from being hired.