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#2152461 - 11/07/17 11:58 AM Firing employee for social media
Elwood P. Dowd Offline
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Interesting story.

I honestly think an employer's desire to control employee use of social media is fascinating; I once got a call from a bank that wanted to take job action against an employee for a photo on her Facebook page that "the bank" thought too risqué. (Thin blouse, cold evening.)

If any discussion of this turns political, I'll delete this thread myself.
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#2152462 - 11/07/17 12:39 PM Re: Firing employee for social media Elwood P. Dowd
Monster Offline
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Very interesting. At a former bank we had a meeting regarding employees (mostly branch employees) using their social media for themselves and then later posting for the bank. There were many different mindsets of how to handle this, but the one that stuck out to me most was "so what if they have bad grammar, their friends already know they are stupid." laugh

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#2152463 - 11/07/17 12:53 PM Re: Firing employee for social media Elwood P. Dowd
osucpa Offline
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In some ways I believe this is a generation gap issue. The younger generation does not necessary worry about what is posted to social media where as the older generation worries about everything.

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#2152469 - 11/07/17 01:53 PM Re: Firing employee for social media Elwood P. Dowd
edAudit Offline
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You are here
government contractor Akima LLC

Would that not be like one of us doing the same to the CEO of our number one customer?
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#2152481 - 11/07/17 03:06 PM Re: Firing employee for social media Elwood P. Dowd
Norman Paperman Offline
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It's pretty simple. Act as if everyone is watching and carry yourself like an adult. Especially in an at-will employment state.

"Virginia is an employment-at-will state, meaning employers can fire people anytime and for any reason."
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#2152488 - 11/07/17 03:14 PM Re: Firing employee for social media Elwood P. Dowd
HappyGilmore Offline
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Pulling people out of the ditc...
as many SJW groups troll social media posts and notify employers of posts by employees, forcing them to make a decision to fire or face the wrath of all SJWs, why would a company not be proactive. plus, she made it her cover photo for her social media accounts, which also listed her place of employment. not a wise move.
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#2152494 - 11/07/17 04:00 PM Re: Firing employee for social media Elwood P. Dowd
Truffle Royale Offline

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I agree with edAudit that the government contract was likely the most motivating factor.

Beyond that, you get into the whole lack of respect/I can do anything I want/my opinion is the correct one attitude that is so prevalent in American society. I've warned younger relatives to remove things and not use the public setting on social media accounts. They usually laugh and then say that they don't want to be associated with anyone who doesn't understand them via their posts anyway.

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#2152510 - 11/07/17 05:02 PM Re: Firing employee for social media Elwood P. Dowd
rlcarey Offline
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No different now then it was 40 years ago - the media is just different. You made the newspapers or the 5 o-clock news while being involved in a drunken brawl back then and you could bet you would get fired. Most of the stuff today is just more directly self-inflicted. There should always be an adequate firewall between your work life and your social life.
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#2152564 - 11/07/17 08:01 PM Re: Firing employee for social media Elwood P. Dowd
Norman Paperman Offline
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Originally Posted By Ken_Pegasus

If any discussion of this turns political, I'll delete this thread myself.


This is the BOL equivalent of Dad saying, "Any cr ap and I'll turn this car around."
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#2152626 - 11/08/17 02:51 AM Re: Firing employee for social media Norman Paperman
Elwood P. Dowd Offline
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Quote:
The younger generation does not necessary worry about what is posted to social media where as the older generation worries about everything.


I think that's pretty insightful. It may also be that the smaller the bank the more the older generation wants to monitor the younger.
I doubt that B of A and Chase monitor their employees' social media accounts...

Personally, if the individuals don't identify their employer, I'm not certain how it becomes any of the employer's business.
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#2152651 - 11/08/17 02:57 PM Re: Firing employee for social media Elwood P. Dowd
Christy Goza Offline
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I am fascinated by what employees post and not too critical because I want to continue to see what they post! We do have some standard guidelines but the main one is - don't use your work email or work number. I don't want anyone to think any employee is speaking on behalf of the Bank. You can learn a lot about people by trolling their social media....and of course occasionally you will have that one bad employee that calls in sick for two days and posts picture of themselves at the beach....
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#2152700 - 11/08/17 05:48 PM Re: Firing employee for social media Elwood P. Dowd
P*Q Offline

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Am I missing something? My HR Dept has always vehemently said there are specific laws out there in which an employer cannot limit what someone says or does personally on their FB page or any social media for that matter, definitely can't fire them over it. What we can do is tell them they can't slander the Bank, represent themselves as speaking on behalf of the Bank or mentioning private or confidential info related to Bank matters. What they do personally is up to them although we "encourage" them to act accordingly as stated in our Code of Ethics policy. Maybe it's a state specific thing but I know HR was passionate about this issue and what we tell employees to do or not to do.

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#2152715 - 11/08/17 06:21 PM Re: Firing employee for social media Elwood P. Dowd
I'm Not A Banker Offline
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P*Q I thought the same thing. My state law is specific about it too, from what I understand. I'd be pretty careful as an employer if I was firing someone over social media behavior.

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#2152717 - 11/08/17 06:24 PM Re: Firing employee for social media Elwood P. Dowd
rlcarey Offline
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In an "at will" state you can fire an employee because of the color of their shirt.
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#2152719 - 11/08/17 06:26 PM Re: Firing employee for social media rlcarey
mtngrrl Offline
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Originally Posted By rlcarey
In an "at will" state you can fire an employee because of the color of their shirt.


Sure you can, but you can also be sued on a whim, and employment attorneys are very good at looking for chinks in the armor.
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#2152733 - 11/08/17 07:32 PM Re: Firing employee for social media Elwood P. Dowd
Norman Paperman Offline
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Is this really about the social media post, or the fact that her conduct outside of the office didn't fit with the perceived standards of the company? If I'm a mid or senior level executive and I get caught flipping off the President and bragging about it, does my employer (in an at will state) not have the right to can me?

Take away the social media aspect and this was the right move, in my opinion.
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#2152792 - 11/09/17 03:44 AM Re: Firing employee for social media Norman Paperman
Elwood P. Dowd Offline
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Quote:
Take away the social media aspect


Okay, an employee posts a sign in her front yard expressing exactly the same sentiment in words, not gestures. It's still the bank's business?

Sorry, I'm just fascinated with the concept. wink

P.S. There's nothing to discuss in regard to this employer's right to fire her except for the fact they did not fire another employee (male) for posting something I would regard as far more inflammatory.
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#2152819 - 11/09/17 02:19 PM Re: Firing employee for social media Elwood P. Dowd
Norman Paperman Offline
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I think it depends on the organization and her position there. I can say that if I put a sign in my front yard that said *$%$ [insert political figure here], there would definitely be a conversation with the leadership once they found out. Who knows if they would can me or not but my point is there is an expectation of character for employees of an organization and even more so for leadership within the organization.

I'll ignore your P.S. because it doesn't fit my narrative. See what I did there. laugh

Edit: Another thought. Given that the Government is the biggest client of the company, I'd say canning her is the right and prudent thing to do. Take the scenario of me working for Pegasus and in my own private time bashing your biggest client; then what?
Last edited by Norman Paperman; 11/09/17 02:44 PM. Reason: Edit
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#2152882 - 11/09/17 05:55 PM Re: Firing employee for social media Elwood P. Dowd
edAudit Offline
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Publically bashing your number one customer should be grounds for termination regardless of the method (unless Ken hired you to undercover bash his number one customer, of course)
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#2152885 - 11/09/17 06:00 PM Re: Firing employee for social media Elwood P. Dowd
raitchjay Offline
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OK
Is all of this a moving target, or does the same theory hold no matter who the President is? Just wondering, cuz there is always bashing of the President.....if it's "your guy", then you're offended. If it's not, then you're probably joining in. ("You" is used in the universal sense here.)

ETA: And i certainly am not trying to get political, just stating what i see as a truth in human behavior.....if we don't like somebody, then bashing them is ok. If we do like somebody, then bashing them is not ok.
Last edited by raitchjay; 11/09/17 07:42 PM.
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#2153118 - 11/10/17 08:24 PM Re: Firing employee for social media raitchjay
Elwood P. Dowd Offline
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I'm thinking:
* The lady wishes ( Go Fund Me account notwithstanding) she had given a "thumbs down" gesture rather than the one she chose and
* her employer wishes it had just asked her to take down the photo and waited to see what she did.

This arena is the brier patch for HR and haste makes waste...
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#2153120 - 11/10/17 08:30 PM Re: Firing employee for social media raitchjay
Monster Offline
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Originally Posted By raitchjay
.....if it's "your guy", then you're offended. If it's not, then you're probably joining in.


I disagree. Maybe in my younger years I would have flipped off a president, but now I never would... doesn't matter who. I feel it's disrespectful, regardless of who is in office.

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#2153124 - 11/10/17 08:39 PM Re: Firing employee for social media Elwood P. Dowd
raitchjay Offline
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OK
I agree Gila.....but, the times, they are a-changing. And i'm not so much talking about people actively flipping off presidents...just that depending on who the president is, the average person is/is not offended depending on who the President is. Your guy? Offended. Not your guy? Funny.
Last edited by raitchjay; 11/10/17 08:41 PM.
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#2153146 - 11/10/17 09:15 PM Re: Firing employee for social media Elwood P. Dowd
Norman Paperman Offline
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If we are sticking to the original context of this post, I think she got canned for giving the finger to the head of their biggest client. Like Gila, I agree that giving any president the finger is a bad idea, and extremely childish if you ask me. It seems that grown adults acting like children is becoming the gold standard in some circles these days.
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#2153412 - 11/14/17 02:30 PM Re: Firing employee for social media Elwood P. Dowd
ACBbank Offline
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The only thing that surprises me about this story is that a lawsuit against the employer hasn't been filed yet.
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