Sacked for a facebook status update...any help/thoughts/advice?

lpra

A mate of mine was suspended from work today for discussing his employer in a facebook status update - officially "gross misconduct". His contract forbids him from discussing the company in a public forum, however, his profile is limited to family and a few close friends so no one would have seen it other than whoever mentioned it to his manager at work. Obviously from the contract they've got him, but does anyone else find it a bit ridiculous? I just wondered if anyone has any ideas about what his options might be.

He says that anyone who has been suspended previously has then been sacked, although obviously doesn't know what their "crimes" against the company were, but is justifiably fearing for his job. The initial status update was of a positive, happy i'm getting a bonus nature, and then made reference to the some recent press the company has had, but again, the amount of people that could have seen it you can count on one hand.

Any thoughts/advice/people to speak to would be great, as I for one think the company's reaction has so far been rather extreme, and see no way that they can prove it was him updating it anyway, as his fiancee is always on his profile anyway!

Cheers gang.

KellyWelly

I doubt he's got a case has he? If they said 'don't discuss this in a public forum' and he puts it straight on Face Book then he's broken the rules? If there are only a handful of people who could see it how did the bosses find out?

I hope he gets a better answer but tbh I doubt it.

Out of interest, does he work for a bank?

lpra

I presume someone at work had access and informed on him. You're correct in your assumption, but it's a desk job, low pay bonus means a lot type to me type job. Not that it makes much of a difference I know...

eileen_forward

I thinks your friend has a good case. The onus would be on the company to prove it was him that had updated his profile etc. But if there is a clause that prohibits him from talking to others about the company then they might still be able to get him. If he is a member of a union then they should be able to help. This goes to show just how much we have changed as a society. And not for the good.

ceridwen

Just to say good luck here to your friend. Hope things work out okay for him on the job front - and that he manages to find out which of these "close friends" really isnt a friend after all. That must also be a very worrying aspect for him - ie that a friend has "betrayed" him like that and having to mentally sit and run through what he knows about his friends to work out which friend isnt one at all (but, if its any consolation, then exercising bad judgement in choosing a friend is something that happens to us all at some point...).

Reds-on-Sea

If it's a high security type job, would employers have a way of spying on profiles anyway - just to keep tabs on their staff?

I don't know, just a thought?

Zazen999

If he has joined a network on his page, they can all see his status without being his 'friend'.

It also depends on his security settings.

Potentially, no need to rack his brains to work out who dobbed him in.

Lesson to all...don't mention your employer on the internet...it's not rocket science.

maninthestreet

Zazen999 wrote: »

If he has joined a network on his page, they can all see his status without being his 'friend'.

It also depends on his security settings.

Potentially, no need to rack his brains to work out who dobbed him in.

Lesson to all...don't mention your employer on the internet...it's not rocket science.

Further lesson - ensure as little information as possible about yourself is available on the internet for any Tom, !!!!!! or Harry to find if they search long enough.

SandC

One of the reasons why I am not 'friends' with any work colleagues on face book, my profile is kept private and I have not joined the company group.

littlestar1981

I dont think there is much he can do, talking about the company on facebook (I assume in a negative way!!) is bringing the company into disrepute and therefore gross misconduct.

Facebook is a dangerous field to play on, you can't ever know fully who can see your profile. It's got so widespread my employer now has a fully written policy on Facebook access and usage.

You could be friends with someone, they could tag you or you could tag them in a photo and then all their friends can now see your profile and vice versa. If it's on your friends profile I doubt they'll be interested whether his fiance uses it, if it's got his name against it that's all they will see.

The only thing your friend can do now is use his history as an employee (good worker, excellent attendance, no previous conduct issues, eg) to try and get them to reduce the severity, maybe issue a final warning as opposed to dismissal, e.g? Or try and explain what was put on there if it wasn't that severe... say it was taken out of context, you wrote on there in a moment of anger etc, although you haven't said what he wrote so we don't know how bad it was! For example, someone in my department put on their facebook how angry they were at the incompetence of a department. Their manager brought it up with them as Facebook also said where they worked, but didn't issue any warning as the department was referred to by the name was use internally therefore it had no meaning to anyone outside the company.

dobbie82

If you just type in a random name, someone famous even, even though you cant view their profile, you can view their friends list and the status of their friends.......................

Nothing is as "private" as you think

It could have been seen by the boss whilst looking at a mutual friend's list of friends.