Case of the Mondays: Fired Over Facebook

Be careful what you wish for, and more importantly, be careful what you post to social media. A Phoenix woman learned this lesson the hard way, after a recent status update on her Facebook profile got her fired.  Amy McClenathan posted to her wall, “I wish I could get fired some days, it would be easier to be at home than to have to go through this.” The next day, her employers granted her wish. But, is it legal to fire someone over a Facebook post? Is social media protected under the First Amendment?

Attorney Dan Barr (and my former adjunct professor for media law at ASU) spoke with AZ Family about the legalities of reprimanding employees for social media commentary. He notes there’s a difference in what is considered protected speech about the workplace and what is not, and how companies can run into trouble with the National Labor Relations Board if they don’t know the difference.

While the legal side of this story needs to be sorted out by lawyers, we can learn some valuable communications lessons from both the employer and the employee.

The Employer:

• As social media is a staple in most people’s lives, employers should recognize this and create a social media policy for employees. By working together with their attorneys and human resources professionals, companies can protect themselves in these types of situations, as well as help ensure their employees are aware of what is and is not allowed to be said about the company on their Facebook and Twitter accounts.
• Smaller companies that may not be able to afford in-house human resources managers and legal counsel can become members of organizations that offer resources, training and access to professionals, such as Mountain States Employers Council. Employers have access to these HR professionals and attorneys to help them manage the employment-relations tasks related to their companies.

The Employee:

• If your company has an employee social media policy, it’s important to read it, understand it and abide by it. Knowing this policy protects you from posting inappropriate comments and provides you with a defense, should your employer try to reprimand you for a social media post.
• A good general rule of thumb for social media is to not post anything publically that you wouldn’t say to your employer in person. No matter your privacy settings, you never know who might see your page or something you wrote on it.

What other communications lessons can we learn from this story?