Fired because of Facebook???

drgnflydggr · Mar 11, 2011

Yes, I have heard of something similar. A friend of mine was fired last year for posting disparaging remarks about our place of employment on his own time.

danh3190 · Mar 11, 2011

Most employers have policies that forbid discussing anything about work on social networks. I've noticed quite a few wise posters here on AN that have said that they can't talk about policies etc at their hospital, probably for the same reason. I guess the theory is that if you want to work for an employer you play by their rules.

FutureOBNurse2118 · Mar 11, 2011

Ive heard of nurses getting into trouble due to facebook.. its crazy, but it happens.. I guess it just depends on the nature of the act or whatever... Its just about a crazy as hospitals not hiring people who smoke even in its off hospital grounds, in their own home.. and its legal... its crazy what this world has become. But the situation I heard about was where a nursery nurse was friends with the parents of a baby, and the parents took a picture of them together and tagged her on facebook and the nurse got in trouble... on what grounds did they have a right to scrutinize her for this I do not know..

hairtocare · Mar 11, 2011

Wow! And that is not considered a violation of free speech?

jammin246RN · Mar 11, 2011

New court ruling has just come out that it is illegal for employers to fire employees who write disparaging remarks about their employers on social media sites. HOWEVER if they were talking about a patient, hipaa and what not, those are grounds. Now if they work in a right to work state they can be fired because their hair is red. So even if that is the reason they got fired, the official reason will be written as something else.

ErinS, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2011

At my work you can not have the workplace in your profile and speak poorly about work, people you work with, or patients. And of course you can never make any comments about patients on facebook that could at all be identifiable. My state is not unionized. Other than these limitations, our workplace encourages us to use facebook as free advertisement.

nurse2033, MSN, RN · Mar 11, 2011

Legal or not, they can do it. This subject has been in the news and blogs for years. Think of it this way, if you insulted a person to their face and they smacked you, they would be violating the law for doing it, but that wouldn't change the red mark on your face. Put your private stuff in private, and don't friend your boss.

EmergencyNrse · Mar 11, 2011

Wow! And that is not considered a violation of free speech?

Since when do you feel immune from your opinions, comments, or actions?

Why do you feel that you are not responsible for impropriety? Listen, "Freedom of Speech" as defined by the US Constitution protects you from prosecution from the government. It does not give you a free pass to say or do what you want to about anyone or anything without consequences. You show your ass and you get fired. The government won't hold it against you but your friends, neighbors or employers do. Facebook is public domain. Say the wrong things and you're gone. Completely justifiable.

RLtinker, LPN · Mar 11, 2011

I think it is generally a bad idea to talk about your place of employment when negative comments can be traced directly back to you. On places like AN, where you can be totally anonymous there isn't an issue. But on face book and even myspace, where posting personal and identifiable information is common, venting about work would be a bad idea. It is naive to think that any place of employment would tolerate an employee "publicly" and the web is public, bashing their company.

LegzRN · Mar 11, 2011

I sometimes see my facebook nurse friends post bad things about their hospital. My view on the matter: "Don't bite the hand that feeds you."

LongislandRN23 · Mar 11, 2011

Its really easy: make your facebook PRIVATE! No one who is not your friend can see your pictures or activities. I would not friend nor accept a request from anyone I worked with.