Fired for Facebook: Don't let it happen to you

To "someone" in IN…my guess is that you were an "at will" employee. There will be no wrongful termination. A company does not have to have what you deem is a good reason. With that said, they can not discriminate you either.

But it sounds like you were at work and you broke a company rule by going on facebook when you shouldn't have. It is not the company's fault that you can't delete friends with your phone application. Should you even be doing that on company time? Maybe you should have waited until you got home and and use your own computer for personal stuff.

As far as your co-workers…what do they have to do with you breaking the rules? Did they make you go on facebook 40 minutes after you got to work? Take some responsiblity.

You stated that you felt that your new manager did not care for you…why did you give her ammo?

Maybe focus on your job at work and this won't happen again.

I was fired just for looking at Facebook. I hadn't been at work but 40 minutes and know how to use alt-tab and multitask. All I did was delete someone from my friends list because my phone app wouldn't let me. And my mgr who had been trying desperately to get rid of me from the first day she took over our unit just happened to walk behind and see. She wouldn't listen, no ifs, ands or buts. I just happened to be closing the window when she walked by and admitted it was facebook, she then stormed off one way, stormed back the other way, yelled at me, yelled at out unit and then yelled at me in a small office room. Told me she would think about whether or not she would fire me, but i could tell she was not sincere. She tried to say i had someone on hold when this happened, but the caller had hung up but the line had not disconnected yet. They were not on hold. And I know for a fact others have used facebook and were either allowed to use it or only got a warning. She had been trying to find reasons to get rid of me from the day she took over for our last mgr.

appealing my ui now…

No matter how free you are to speak your mind, you can't honestly tell me you'd say something like what Leone said to your boss' face and expect to keep your job. Next time I'm sure Dan will post something like that through an anonymous moniker (or maybe in a journal, if anyone still remembers how to use that thing…what's it called…ah! A pen). The termination seems incredibly logical to me.

the words "wrongful termination" apply here. Any companies out there feel like being sued?

Two words: wrongful termination. This is how companies get sued. Freedom of speech is protected.

I was mutually terminated for my facebook. I wrote anonymously about a co-worker but a buddy of hers found my post and ratted me out to HR.
I have been writing about my experience (still not using names at all)…can they still come after me? I mean, I don't even work for them anymore and I'm not using any names. Where is the line between free speech and non-disclosure? I never wrote anything about the company- just my experience with a coworker. Does that count? Hmmmm…

Well, it happened to me. I got fired for facebook. And not because I was bashing my company either! I am a recruiter–and the new age recruiting technique is to advertise when you are looking for people. Mind you, the people reading my page are my friends that I have accepted into my circle–therefore, I am really soliciting to my friends to help me find folks. There was no mention of where I work either on my page so one would have to know where I work or email me to find out.
Either way—the same page I used to "advertise" my need to find people—I did weeks later update my status as "ready to go home so I can drink and party with friends"
So, my ultraconservative company said that I apparently did not want to be at work and therefore terminated me because "I did not fit into the companys' culture"

Nevermind the fact that I hired 60 people in 2 weeks, found 15 temps in 3 days, and had endless compliments by upper management about my work. I was productive and had a good attitude about work–yet they terminated me.

So word of advice, if your boss requests you to be your friend—DONT ACCEPT THEM—it's a trap.

As my Momma has said don't write anything that you don't want the whole world to know.

The internet is like having a big sign in Times Square broadcasting to the world. It is NOT a secret diary.

I knew of a situation where a girl, angry about a tragic situation, made a threat on her web page and broadcast it to the whole world. I emailed her to advise her to take it down or at least make her page more private. She really could have had the FBI on her case and it could have compromised a great deal.

She retaliated like I was the one who caused the tragedy. Some people just don't get the impact of screaming across the internet. It is not the place to do it.

Don't put Anything there that could be used against you either for employment or legal purposes.

Simple rule of thumb: assume your wife/husband, parents, grandmother, and boss read anything you write. And don't write anything that would ruffle their feathers. I have a website, blog, and Facebook page, and I do not mention work for any reason, good or bad.

I can still keep a reasonably interesting blog without upsetting spouse, parent, grandparent, or boss.

What about using social networking as a way to get you hired?

Everyone seems to be down on twitter and other social networking sites saying that they are only from self promoting, self-important, nitwits. I don't think that this is entirely the case.

I have seen many people use blogs and social networking to further there careers and set themselves apart from everyone in their field. This girl made a mistake and many others make the mistake of posting 'not-well-thought-out' messages on social sites everyday, but I don't think that the services are the culprit. The people using the services are. Everyone just needs to think a little before they post on a private profile and adding value to their field in the form of words and commentary is always a good thing.

This is nothing new. It has been going on forever. Twitter (or Facebook or any other medium you care to name) merely adds a new dimension. In my experience, friends are far more dangerous than any technology. Some former friends of mine have proven astonishingly treacherous.

You must always guard any speech that might make its way back to the boss. That's just good sense.

To respond to what Vince in Ithaca said, if I was an employer, I would not want my employees to bash my company in a public forum. If you are trash talking with other employees it is one thing, but when out in a place where all your friends, and quite possibly random people, because alot of people add thoes that they do not know, it is totally different. Thoes people you are talking to, that will all see it online are prospective customers, if you told a customer that the place you worked for was dumb, or said I hate this work to them, it might make them less likely to buy stuff, or they might not feel they are in more of a hostile environment, instead if the employee says good things about the company, and if friendly to all customers, it will only help the company.

How about taking some personal responsibility? When dealing with anything digital, you do not know where it goes after you hit send. If you don't want your boss seeing a text or picture, don't send it.

It's not that it's a police state. It's common sense. Would you say you hate the job you're considering taking to the face of the hiring manager? Doing that is stupid. Posting it somewhere the hiring manager could read it is also stupid.

You are free to say and post whatever you want. You are not free from the consequences when someone doesn't like it.

Vince, what you are failing to understand is that the twitter was PUBLIC not private. It's doubtful that Cisco went out of their way to track down this twitter. An employee publicly talking negatively about a company is grounds for being fired. Other people are reading this, not just Cisco employees. People that do business with Cisco might see this and think that, hey, in a recession Cisco is still paying wastefully large salaries to new employees, and it isn't a company worth doing business with.

This is no different from someone getting drunk at the company Christmas party and making disparaging remarks about boss or company. Most companies can fire anyone for any reason and the new media are just different tools to say something stupid that gets you fired.

There might be some real truth to this. Last year, I was employed with a retail pharmacy chain who purchased the company I first was employed with. To say the least, I became very unhappy with my job and I blogged about it on Myspace. I too believed it was only being read by "friends", now I am not so sure. I was "let go" by that company one year ago this month. Lesson learned….

People need to ensure that they create approprate friends list that can help limit postings. Keep a family list and keep a work list. Also, make sure that the profile is set to ask to be added and not set to public.

Any decent manager would look to see if there was validity to the issues being raised or potential insight to opportunities to improve morale or new hire perceptions. I suspect there was some truth to the content of the statements/posts. If managers fire those bringing concerns to the light of day imagine what life is like for those still employed there. Seems invasive and inappropriate.

In response to Vince, that is complete rubbish. It is not being a police state … it is another outlet for HR to see if people really want to work for you or how they are projecting the company internally.

Would you want to spend tens of thousands of dollars to hire someone who is only taking a job half heartly because nothing else is out there and will jump at something else? Internally, if you have employees bad mouthing management in meetings to customers, you think the company would put up with it? No way.

This is a valuable lesson for my generation, that you need to think things through and see that actions do have consequences. It is a big deal. My peer group has been never been taught accountability and the corporate world needs to maintain that your actions do reflect on a company.

We became a police state because employment is "at will" which translates to "at the employer's pleasure". Saying something negative about your employer has ALWAYS been a career ending move, but only lately could they read it nearly at will. Unlike government, your employer has every legal right to discriminate based on your behavior.

If Connor is working on a master's degree in information management and systems, but posts a "sarcastic" remark, I would wonder if that person really understands the desire people have to keep their private information private. This is a security issue.

I doubt I will get fired for anything I say on a social networking site, because I'm not on one yet – but someone could impersonate me and then what? If a potential employer does not tell me what they find or what someone sends them "FYI" I will have no recourse to protect myself.

Then there are the mean people who make vile and accusatory remarks about others on the social networking sites – something high school students have already done to teachers they don't like.

And the people who post WITHOUT permission photographs taken on private property. Since photographs can easily be altered, how does one defend oneself against a phony picture? My attitude is, if someone did not ask my permission, that they were going to post a picture of or including me, not taken in public, on the Internet, they have no right to do so.

22 yo turning down a job with CISCO in this economy–dumb, real dumb.

Yeah thats ridiculous that we cant say what we want on social sites these days. Still dont have my own site and never will. Easiest way to stay out of trouble.

There are things that you say in public and there are things that you say in private. Twitter and FaceBook are not private. The fact is that most of your "friends" online don't know you don't know that you like to talk sarcastically about your job, even though you love it. I think that people need to understand this. I have 6 friends on face book right now all them have been to my house, celebrated major mile stones with me and would like to hang out with me in the real world. Learn the difference between public or private situations.

A police state? Pssshaw. You should ALWAYS watch what you say when you do the vitrual equivalent of writing your opinion on a piece of paper and tacking it to a signpost in the middle of Time Square. When you lose your anonynimity, you have to account for your words. Kudos on that Cisco employee for his due diligence on potential lousy employees. There are plenty of people who'd love to have that job, crappy commute and all.

Just as we have to be careful what we say face to face, we need to exercise caution when posting to social sites. My twitter feed is rarely used and most of the Facebook items are either not on company time or work related since I have friends who work in the same field.

If you put it out there, you should be able to handle the outcome.

just goes to show…. no matter how much BS in pumped onto you by the HR folks and upper management… we are OWNED by corporate America and have no Right to freedom of speech or right to individuality….at %$&# at it's finest.

There's an old saying:"You're stupid if you say it, imagine if you write it down!

Twitter isn't Facebook. I'm sure that Facebook personnel don't appreciate lumping all social media sites under their name

Whoever this Levad character is.. it is very ignorant to think that everyone at their job LOVES IT. granted, that seems a necessary trait of an employee, but it's hardly the cold, hard truth of the real corporate world (unless of course you work at google). All work will get boring sometime, and on the internet, that boredom might be characterized sarcastically as "hate", but maybe Levad was in line for a promotion if he could tally one more "tattle-tweet" for his quota… someone ranting about a figurative "hate" towards a job does not rationalize tattle-tweetering on.

this Levad character must be high on ignorance.

I agree with what Vince from Ithaca said. It is rediculous that people would be judged upon what they say in their online rants…it is a freedom of speech to speak your mind. Anyways, if an employer is reading these, maybe he should ask the employees what they don't like about the work. Who knows, maybe this would lead to a better work environment

Employers are so stuck on themselves, and so sure that they are doing you the greatest of favors by employing you that they are offended by almost anything you might say about them. If what you said in the 'privacy' of your own home could be recorded and heard by your employer they would use that against you too.

But I'll bet that managers don't hesitate to talk crap about the people that they hired and manage.

vince, I agree that there are far too many restrictions when it comes to our expressions. However, when you go on a site and say that you'll "hate the work" BEFORE you even START, i would say that is grounds for withdrawing a job offer… Similar argument can be made for the eagles situation, although I find that one a little more extreme.

Whoops – posted too quick

Bottom line – when I work at a company, I also represent the company. If I chose to trash it, or otherwise publically taint its reputation or give the impression that I don't have its best interest in mind, I wouldn't be surprised if it came back to bite me, would you??

Vince – You need to remember that these are probably extreme situations. But the fact is, if you are putting it out there, then it's open game – there's no violation of privacy, or personal conversations going on here. It's information being put on a public site.

Aside from that, companies hire people for who they are, not who they pretend to be when people are looking. This is why executives at companies have been fired for things like having an affair – because if you're willing to lie in your personal life, chances are you're willing to lie in your professional life too.

Hm. If we're really to the point where any job depends on anything you say, anywhere, anytime, then basically we've moved into a "find reasons to fire people" sort of mentality. Which is different from "find reasons to hire and retain people and give them the benefit of the doubt".

It has been my experience that companies which do the former might do well in bad times, but tend not to do so well in the long term. I don't know if this was Cisco's policy or a private review by staff, but it reflects poorly upon the company to be subjective and reactionary.

Chris

People who feel a need to publish to the world their private thoughts and what they are doing every minute of their day are not the kinds who make good company employees anyway. If I were a hiring manager, I'd be impressed with a candidate who does not use so-called social networking sites.

Remember: Big brother is watching…always.

Its amazing that people don't think about what they do online as something that could haunt them. Most people wouldn't tatoo their face because of the effect it may have on them long term in the job market so why would you post comments that have the same effect.

Sorry Vince but in the real world all social sites have become a way to evaluate people. Whether we like it or not that's just the way it is and it will get even worst in the future.

Socialism here we come!! I vaguely remember something about freedom of speech and freedom of the press in this really old dusty document called the Constitution? Anyone else heard of this? Personal feelings relegated to a personal website is just that, personal. If people want to go one cyber witch-hunts for people venting then I think we have more severe problems then people shooting their mouths off. Even if what they say is a little off-color!! GROW UP!!!

Protip: Fake names and obscure aliases are awesome.

Honestly, I wouldn't want to work for a company that fires people because of what they blog or post about on Facebook anyway. For every company that actually looks into your social networking background, I bet there's ten others that don't care. It's not officially invasion of privacy, but it sure feels like it.

Anyone who publicly says something bad about current/potential employer (or in this case possible bad work habit) is well… not very smart.

I do a lot of interviews were I work and I always look at things like Facebook, Myspace, Twitterer, blogs, etc… to learn more about the person I'm interviewing. I try to overlook a lot of personal things (like what you do on the weekends for example) but if it's bad enough I'll often think twice about hiring someone.

Just think before you post, just like you should think before you speak. If you do that should be fine… Or use a fake name…

A friend of mine was fired because of Facebook. She worked at a boarding school and a student asked her to be a "friend" which she accepted. When the parents found out, she was promptly fired, even though they never had any conversations online or exchanged anything inappropriate.

Nonsense!!! When did we become sucha police state where everbody has to watch what they say for fear of being fired? Any employer who fires an employee for what they said at a social site is an idiot, and should be fired himself. If you are so concerned about what employees say, why don't you send spies into their offices and listen to their personal conversations? We don't do it, because we don't care! And we respect people's personal conversations! There are better ways to evaluate people tha listening to their personal rantings and ravings!

Or don't be a noob and just keep your Facebook and Twitter private. Dur.

Wow, maybe closing my Twitter account is the safest way to avoid eventually saying something politically incorrect. Sooner or later everyone slips up…

Now I know why they call it TWITter.