Settlement Reached By Woman Fired For Facebook Posts

Posted by Chiachi Lo on February 8, 2011 at 2:09pm

" A settlement has been reached between Dawnmarie Souza, the woman allegedly fired for bashing her boss on Facebook, and her former employer."

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2379686,00.asp

I find it surprising that 8 percent of US companies in a 2008 poll admit firing employees because of things posted on Facebook. It seems silly that people would bash their companies and employers on Facebook. They should know that companies would be able to find out.

Do you think it is right for a company to fire employees when employees attack the company using Facebook? And are you afraid that the stuff you posted on Facebook would affect your chance in future employment opportunities?

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Replies

Chelsea Weininger March 16, 2011 at 5:15pm

It's a person's own responsibility for what they post on facebook and people should realize that before posting anything. Granted I do feel that there are much worse things that are going on to dwell on what people say on facebook. Also, what ever happened to freedom of speech?
Shelby Yoshida March 14, 2011 at 4:02pm

Facebook is fair game. By choosing to actively have a website centered on your private life, pictures, and thoughts, you are submitting yourself to scrutiny by everyone and anyone who has access to your site. If you post vicious things about your friends, they probably won't be your friend anymore. If you post attacks on your job and the people you work with, they will probably fire you.
Dylan Harris March 14, 2011 at 8:45am

I have mixed feelings about this. I think employment companies should be allowed to hire and fire based on recent Facebook posts but not ones from the past. For example, I would not want a company years from now to judge me based on my college experiences. I know it can be difficult to draw the line on how recent of a post or a picture one should be allowed to assess an employee, but I think it should have to be within the past two or three years for it to heavily influence an employer's decision.
Jung Hwa Han March 13, 2011 at 12:13am

It's not a question of right and wrong but rather something that depends on the employers' decisions. And I agree that employers have right to fire somebody based on reasonable grounds, and bashing on the company on Facebook or to anybody could be one.
Earl Edwards Jr. March 10, 2011 at 9:16pm

I strongly believe that things you post on facebook can effect jobs that you apply for because some employers will use facebook to gain background knowledge on possible future employees
Kisung Jin March 3, 2011 at 12:33pm

Employees should be able to discern their personal and public life. Some people use Facebook as the outlet of their emotions or thoughts. It is partially true. But if they want to express thoughts on controversial issues, they better put them on a diary, not Facebook. It would be very stupid for people to claim that Facebook does not protect our privacy. People better think before they click "Share"
Elvia (Mary) Lopez March 1, 2011 at 8:02pm

Yes, I do feel the company as the right. It's important to uphold a positive image.

And I don't have a facebook, so I'm not too worried...
Chiachi Lo February 22, 2011 at 7:25pm

It's interesting I actually had an employer that looked up my facebook profile before hiring me. Good thing that what they saw was we had some common friends! So it actually helped me in my case.
Bonnie Chen February 22, 2011 at 1:52pm

I agree. Employers should be able to fire employees because of what they post of Facebook. Employees should be mature enough to confront problems in the work place face-to-face or find better ways of solving problems than venting their complaints on Facebook. Social media has really changed the way we communicate with people. I guess some people are too scared to confront problems on a personal level.

This reminds me of Myspace days when people would trash talk about each other on their friends' pages w/o thinking about others being able to see it.
Bryan M. Hee February 22, 2011 at 12:05pm

I agree with many of the other posts in that I believe it is acceptable for a company to fire an employee for things they have said on facebook. There should always be a certain level of accountability for one's actions, and a company should be able to fire an individual on any grounds that is not illegal. although it seems strange that grown adults would be complaining about their employers on facebook, assuming Dawnmarie Souza and others are adults.