At our weekly staff meeting, employees at my place of business were informed by head management that there have been reports to our General Office regarding employee's MySpace pages. We were all told that anything derogatory regarding the company or people who worked within that was displayed on an employee's MySpace page would be dealt with "harshly" up to and including termination. A fellow employee had, just days before, posted a blog venting about our place of business and certain management. She did not name names, she did not include the company name in her blog or anything of the like. My question is: can an employee be terminated because of what they do "off the clock" if it is not illegal? Bear in mind, I live in an "at-will" state, which means you are employed at the will of the employer and can be fired for no particular reason at all, so the law about it is a bit sticky. Thanks.
2007-08-02 18:01:11 · 10 answers · asked by imhalf_the_sourgirl_iused_tobe 5 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
To clarify: the employee who wrote the blog has not been fired and the blog was written before the warning was given. We assume the warning was a result of the blog. And again, the person who wrote it did not mention anyone by name, nor the company etc.
2007-08-02 19:24:51 · update #1
I'm not sure about state laws governing 'at-will' employers, however it sounds like you work in a very catty environment. Sure I think it's unethical for your employers to have fired your co-worker over this - obviously your bosses are very paranoid and are checking up on people - I think it's disgusting behaviour, actually. How dare any employer look at someone's personal website and then punish that person for not liking what they have written on it. HOW DARE THEY?? Where is it you live again???
2007-08-02 18:15:38 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I also live in at "at-will" state, Indiana. We had a similar incident at a pharmecutical manufacturing company here and under the EEOC law the company could not do anything as long as it was OFF company property and off company time. EEOC is dealing with some of these employee blog problems as we speak. I have listed a link that has some articles regarding employee bloging listed below.
2007-08-03 08:27:16 · answer #2 · answered by Faye Prudence 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You pretty much answered the question -- any employee can be fired for any reason or no reason.
Company disloyalty (in their eyes), even if completely legal, is a good justification for firing that would withstand any claim that the firing was motivated by race or gender or other protected class.... which are the only grounds for which an employee can not be legally fired.
2007-08-03 01:45:43 · answer #3 · answered by coragryph 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Even if they can be fired doesn't mean that the fired employee is not going to sue later for the taking away his constitutional right of free speech. Here is the kind of a situation when you need to make it absolutely clear to the top management right away that if they will keep being persistent in denying you your constitutional rights, YOU are going to deal "harshly" with them in court. Be firm about it, and they WILL back off. Don't let them to scare you with that "firing" shi*t.
2007-08-03 01:13:10 · answer #4 · answered by OC 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If your real name is on the blog, yes, termination cannot be avoided. It's best to resign. If warning was already there, why vent on a blog with a real name?
I don't publish any writing, blog, venting or fiction, under my real name because of it....
2007-08-03 01:20:15 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Does your boss think the customers of your company spend time on myspace monitoring your comments? Why would your boss care. Start looking for work away from your nut case.
2007-08-03 01:15:07 · answer #6 · answered by eric l 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Whether it is fair or ethical is for you to decide, but yes, it is perfectly legal. Unless you have a contract specifying that you cannot be terminated except for certain reasons, you're out of luck.
2007-08-03 01:42:13 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I worked for an at will employer and I'm afraid they can do it legally. Is it ethical? Well everyone has their own opinions but I think anything done outside of work has no business affecting you at work.
2007-08-03 01:06:07 · answer #8 · answered by christina h 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
they can do anything they want. also be aware that alot of future employers go to myspace pages to find out if this is the kind of person they want to hire
2007-08-03 01:11:09 · answer #9 · answered by vanessa c 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you make it private, you don't have to worry about them looking at it. I don't think it's right for them to do that, but at least there's something you can do to keep them out of your business.
2007-08-03 01:14:17 · answer #10 · answered by CAUTION:Truth may hurt! 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋