disciplinary advice please (social networking - misconduct), sackable?

hayley11

The fact that the bully in question is senior makes it worse, he should know better and set an example.

Metranil_Vavin

I think anyone setting up/joining these sort of groups on Facebook etc is frankly crazy, and cant be too suprised if they get into trouble.

There have been numerous news stories about people being fired from their jobs..why take the risk?

hayley11

sjaypink wrote: »

the group on the social networking site had been inactive for many months anyway, but the company had already gained copies of its content prior to the start of the investigation

i know it was long, but not sure whether you read the op?

there was genuinely nothing horrible/ unkind said on the group. i appreciate it may not appear that way, but such a group was not unique to mr x. several of the staff there use (or used to use) networking sites to set up similar groups about eachother etc. perhaps if mr x had been a member of the site he would have been involved in this also...

to clarify, this is not my job/ disciplinary being discussed. i am asking on behalf of a friend

i dont know who acas is, but will google, thanks for the suggestion

I can't imagine why somebody would create a group like this and it be totally innocent? Anyway it would seem other people don't find it innocent otherwise your friend wouldn't be in this position now.

I for one couldn't be part of a group that is taking the mick of a colleague, whether it be light hearted or not because if somebody did that about me, i'd be really upset.

sjaypink

gizmo111 wrote: »

Why on earth would someone want to start a a group like this, and why would people want to join, unless they have been bullied by the originator who is the fast tracked senior manager?

i did ask this as a genuine enquiry, not to start a discussion about why my friend and his colleagues find things like this funny.

i dont know, to be honest. perhaps i, as a woman, as a mother, as a maturer person or whatever, wont get it. as i assume most here dont

however, that does NOT make my friend a bully of other colleagues, nor mr x. put a group of young males together in a stressful work environment (inc mr x by the way), and they will have a different sense of humour. i have seen this myself in my own employment.

hayley11

Metranil_Vavin wrote: »

I think anyone setting up/joining these sort of groups on Facebook etc is frankly crazy, and cant be too suprised if they get into trouble.

There have been numerous news stories about people being fired from their jobs..why take the risk?

I remember a couple of years ago, some of my boyfriends colleagues were suspended pending an investigation after they started a group saying they hate the company they work for. Don't think any of them were fired though.

zzzLazyDaisy

sjaypink wrote: »

forgot to mention (dont know how relevant) is that my friend is in a more senior position than mr x and his parents....

So your friend holds a more senior position. Such as? team leader? supervisor? manager? As a person in a position of authority, or at the very least in a position senior to the person he is seeking to belittle and make a mockery of, he must expect that his behaviour will be taken very seriously by the company.

This is particularly the case when a disabled employee is concerned because under the DDA he is viewed as representing the company, and his actions could result in a DDA claim against your friend personally, as well as against the company.

The fact that the colleagues disability was not openly mentioned is likely to be irrelevant, since the fact that he picked on an employee with learning difficulties to make fun amounts to treating him/her differently from able-bodied colleagues, which is in itself unlawful under the Act.

Unless of course your friend has similar blogs running about other colleagues who are not disabled in any way, as well? Thought not!

Your friend's continued employment is under threat - and rightly so, in my view (I'm a retired employment lawyer)

bitsandpieces

sjaypink wrote: »

the tag line for the group was 'in appreciation of mr x, who makes the weekends at work more enjoyable'. mr x has a learning disability, although not obvious. the group made reference to his jokes and 'catchphrases', and his off the wall sense of humour. i do not know if his sense of humour is related to his disibilty.

i can of course see how this can be read, although i do know he (mr x) was genuinely liked by other members of staff- of course, i realise this is not exactly something which can be proved.

Clearly, this could be read as mocking Mr X and his disability (whether or not that was the intention). I'd also ask why - if this was meant to be friendly towards Mr X - he wasn't told about this.

This could be interpreted as bullying/harassment - esp if Mr X interprets it this way. A company could certainly view this as gross misconduct and a sacking offence. Even if they're lax in other areas, they're quite entitled to take a stricter stance on this should they so desire.

As far as the 'respect at work' contract, even leaving this up for three months after signing might be viewed as a breach. Even without it, though, I think this could be viewed as bullying/harassment.

Is your friend in a union that he can ask for advice? As well as explaining that this group wasn't meant to be nasty, I'd also suggest that your friend apologises for doing this, and offers to apologise to Mr X and parents too. Your friend should get personal advice from an expert, though.

sjaypink

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

Unless of course your friend has similar blogs running about other colleagues who are not disabled in any way, as well? Thought not!

this was a genuine question, which, i understand is likely to evoke passionate points of view... however i thought i had made clear, advice is being sought, not presumptions and judgement.

in reply to your quote above, i refer you back to my earlier post in which i mention simliar facebook/ myspace groups are set up about other (able bodied) colleagues as well. i appreciate this is not a sense of humour which will be popular with many, although i did not really intent the thread to become a debate about that...

eamon

Social networks should carry a warning message similar to "Do not post anything that you would not be prepared to say to someones face"

zzzLazyDaisy

Ok my mistake.

If your friend has set up social networking sites about other colleagues which also make sarcastic remarks about those colleagues and poke fun at them, then maybe he isn't treating his disabled colleague any differently from his able-bodied colleagues.

But I doubt that pointing out that he has a track record of bullying other colleagues will help him much at his disciplinary.