Connie Levitsky learned the hard way that you can be fired for what you post to social media.
[Sidebar: In their own words, “Addition Elle offers fashionable and trendy plus size women’s clothing, including plus size lingerie, plus size jeans and plus size dresses.”]“I was hired at Addition Elle a week and a half ago, and posted the statement ‘Conquering the world, one well-dressed fat lady at a time,’ under the employment tab on my Facebook profile. I got a phone call from my store manager on Friday, telling me that I had to take the post down, and that my shifts were to be suspended until further notice. I immediately took the post down, and was invited to come back to work, with the impression that the matter had been settled. I worked on Friday and Sunday, and then on Tuesday, the district manager told me I was being fired for embarrassing the company.”
Along with former APTN personality, Jodie Callaghan, we spoke with Connie over blab. Over the course of 90 minutes, we covered everything from the body positivity movement to social media policies.
Here are the facts:
Here are lessons for everyone:
Some people didn’t agree that Connie should have been let go. But from a company standpoint, they likely believed that by terminating her employment they were protecting their clientele, as well as their bottom line. Most people don’t realize that companies have some latitude in this area of social media + employment: they can terminate an employee for a social media post with ‘just cause’ if they can prove that a comment has direct impact on their business -> e.g.: harming their reputation and potentially causing economic effect.
Other situations are:
(1) where the comment is disparaging or insolent against the employer or other co-workers; or
(2) where the comment is in violation of a workplace policy that the employee was aware of such as a confidentiality agreement (http://www.macleodlawfirm.ca)
Related Blogs:
How to write a social media guideline that your employees will understand
Social Media Training For Employees
An employee you just terminated posted a scathing video to YouTube, what’s your next step?
Should I be Monitoring My Employees Online Activities
Social Media, Free Speech, Employee and Employer Rights
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