Fired because of Facebook???

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I heard through the grapevine that two RN's at a hospital were fired yesterday over a thread that they participated in on Facebook....:confused: I do know that the posts were not made during their working hours but can not say EXACTLY what was said in these posts...but how on earth could that be legal if they posted what ever they did on their OWN time? I do know it was not Mediaographic in nature.....I'm just in shock. Anyone have heard of this happening or have any thoughts:eek:

Specializes in NICU, Post-partum.
You do know that if you "like" your place of employment, you just gave them full rein to see your page, right?

We just had an incident on another floor this week....nurse friended a patient's parent...nurse posted something about work....parent printed it and then turned it into managment who in turn sent it to HR. Needless to say, that nurse is no longer employed. She violated the policy and procedure on networking. One second of stupid....that is all it takes.

Exactly..and that is probably the REAL reason why they want people to join it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Health Information Management.
If it has to do with hospital business, than whether it is on work time or their own time, it IS their business.

100% legal...a court will back it up every time.

I never, ever mention work in my Facebook posts, other than a very superficial..."glad to be home"..."on low-census tonight"...etc.

I never mention anything even remotely suggesting toward any case in my unit.

THAT is how you get fired.

My understanding is that employees do have the legal right to discuss certain topics without employer retribution, working conditions being one of them.

Here's an excerpt from a New York Times story on the recent "Facebook case" pursued by the National Labor Review Board:

The labor relations board announced last week that it had filed a complaint against an ambulance service, American Medical Response of Connecticut, that fired an emergency medical technician, accusing her, among other things, of violating a policy that bars employees from depicting the company "in any way" on Facebook or other social media sites in which they post pictures of themselves.

Lafe Solomon, the board's acting general counsel, said, "This is a fairly straightforward case under the National Labor Relations Act- whether it takes place on Facebook or at the water cooler, it was employees talking jointly about working conditions, in this case about their supervisor, and they have a right to do that."

That act gives workers a federally protected right to form unions, and it prohibits employers from punishing workers-whether union or nonunion-for discussing working conditions or unionization. The labor board said the company's Facebook rule was "overly broad" and improperly limited employees' rights to discuss working conditions among themselves.

Moreover, the board faulted another company policy, one prohibiting employees from making "disparaging" or "discriminatory" "comments when discussing the company or the employee's superiors" and "co-workers."

Now, this case has been settled out of court and as a part of the settlement the employer involved had to revise its broad social media policy. However, I'm sure the NLRB and other groups will eventually pursue other social media cases.

I agree that it's smart to be cautious online. However, the notion that employers can control so much of our non-working time and activity is a little too Orwellian for me. I will be glad to see the eventual establishment of legal signposts clarifying rights for both employers and employees with regard to speech via social media.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-surg,icu,er,surgical floor,recovery.

I look at it this way. Since you work there and that is suppose to be where you take care of people who need help then why post anything about it. I have heard of people getting in trouble about postings that were done on their own time. However, I feel like work is work and home is home. Leave work at work.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Urology, Gyn, Family Practice, HBO.

We had someone in our front office get reprimanded partially because of Facebook and partially because some of the nurses called BS on her.

1. Her husband was admitted to a local hospital for a GI bleed and c-diff.

2. She calls in sick. She tells the manager that she has c-diff too and her PCP has put her on Cipro to treat it. She says that her PCP also told her that she needs to be home from work until she has had regular formed BMs. :rolleyes:

3. The next day she takes her kids to a local parade and posts the pics on Facebook.

:smackingf

Up Vote Up Vote ×
No one is saying you are not free to say whatever you want, or to post whatever you want. The problem is, the employer is free to HIRE whoever they want and to FIRE whoever they want (at least in right to work states like mine and in absence of a contract). No one is owed a job, we earn our jobs. The employer has a right to set standards about how they want their employees to behave. If you don't like their standards, seek employment elsewhere. If I was the manager and had an employee bad-mouthing the company, I would let them know that they are well within their first amendment right to speak their mind, but they will have to do it from the unemployment line.

Right and I would take you to court and sue your butt off and win. :D Freedom of speech is our most protected right and without redress says exactly what it says. You can't redress. You can't penalize me financially for speaking my mind and the fact that people like you are afraid to speak is just a telltale sign of this generation relinquishing your rights because you don't understand or know your Constitutional rights. I do believe that is why that suit went before the courts and the FB folks won. Most people are completely unaware of their rights because they are being taught to be quiet and say nothing lest they be penalized. Be assured we can speak up about our beliefs, the injustices of both business and government, and we can do it without redress.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in geriatrics.

Referring to an earlier post. If a person calls in sick, and then posts on Facebook the same day or night that they were actually out having fun instead, they DESERVE to be reprimanded. That's just plain stupid. If you are going to lie about being sick, then logically, the activities should not be posted on fb.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Right and I would take you to court and sue your butt off and win. :D Freedom of speech is our most protected right and without redress says exactly what it says. You can't redress. You can't penalize me financially for speaking my mind and the fact that people like you are afraid to speak is just a telltale sign of this generation relinquishing your rights because you don't understand or know your Constitutional rights. I do believe that is why that suit went before the courts and the FB folks won. Most people are completely unaware of their rights because they are being taught to be quiet and say nothing lest they be penalized. Be assured we can speak up about our beliefs, the injustices of both business and government, and we can do it without redress.

It seems you are the one who does not understand the constitutional amendment protecting free speech. It's absolutely not true that private employers cannot fire you for "speaking your mind." Freedom of speech as a constitutional right refers to government persecution, not blanket protection in the private sector. Even the Facebook lawsuit has limited implications as it was settled, rather than it resulting in a ruling favoring the plaintiff. There was no official ruling, therefore no legal precedent was established.

This quote from a law blog pretty much sums it up as of this time:

Because the matter did not proceed to a final decision, the settlement itself has no precedential value, and the issues raised by this case - particularly concerning an employee's right, on his or her own time and using his or her own personal computer, to disparage a supervisor through social media - remain unresolved.
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Urology, Gyn, Family Practice, HBO.
Referring to an earlier post. If a person calls in sick, and then posts on Facebook the same day or night that they were actually out having fun instead, they DESERVE to be reprimanded. That's just plain stupid. If you are going to lie about being sick, then logically, the activities should not be posted on fb.

She actually thought that she would not get caught because she was friends on Facebook with everyone except our office manager. She didn't think that anyone would actually show the manager the pics and explain that doctors don't give Cipro as a treatment for c-diff.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in geriatrics.

Figuring she wouldn't get caught? Why even take a chance? I hear of people doing this...calling in sick, posting on fb, getting caught, all the time. Stupid, no matter what way she wants to see it. Is it so important to post pics on fb on that particular day? All content on the net is public domain.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
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.

Rethink that! Try posting a comment work-related with enough details and watch anonymity go out the window.Worse if you don't take the fall,someone else with a close enouch situation might. No one wants that on their conscience.

Firings over facebook. I'm thinking this issue has been flogged down.You simply do not post any disparaging comments about your employer or owkrplace on facebook. Wrong/ right I don't know, but it is what it is.

He who pays the piper dictates the tune- the employers are sure as heck paying us, so yes,they do reserve the right on dictating the tune on how their company's image is portrayed to the public. Especially on a social networking site as facebook where people can take information(ture or false) and just run with it.

If it is to be believed ,a facebook posting started the massive movement in Egypt, imagine then if employees were allowed to post all willy nilly on the employers and workplaces. Not good.

So play by the rules:)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
If it has to do with hospital business, than whether it is on work time or their own time, it IS their business.

100% legal...a court will back it up every time.

I never, ever mention work in my Facebook posts, other than a very superficial..."glad to be home"..."on low-census tonight"...etc.

I never mention anything even remotely suggesting toward any case in my unit.

THAT is how you get fired.

Why mention it at all?

It's seems facebook gives people the audience they seek. First minute, "I'm going to sip wine...", a minute later, "Oh maybe, I shouldn't sip wine."..then later, "I'm definitley going to sip wine.."

Hello, sip the wine already! Just shut up about it.

Post 1-"I'm home from work"

Post 2- "Low census..."

Post 3-"I'm home from work because of low census."

Post 4, "Who wants to know why I'm home from work?"

Bleh:D

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NICU, Post-partum.
My understanding is that employees do have the legal right to discuss certain topics without employer retribution, working conditions being one of them.

Here's an excerpt from a New York Times story on the recent "Facebook case" pursued by the National Labor Review Board:

The labor relations board announced last week that it had filed a complaint against an ambulance service, American Medical Response of Connecticut, that fired an emergency medical technician, accusing her, among other things, of violating a policy that bars employees from depicting the company "in any way" on Facebook or other social media sites in which they post pictures of themselves.

Lafe Solomon, the board's acting general counsel, said, "This is a fairly straightforward case under the National Labor Relations Act- whether it takes place on Facebook or at the water cooler, it was employees talking jointly about working conditions, in this case about their supervisor, and they have a right to do that."

That act gives workers a federally protected right to form unions, and it prohibits employers from punishing workers-whether union or nonunion-for discussing working conditions or unionization. The labor board said the company's Facebook rule was "overly broad" and improperly limited employees' rights to discuss working conditions among themselves.

Moreover, the board faulted another company policy, one prohibiting employees from making "disparaging" or "discriminatory" "comments when discussing the company or the employee's superiors" and "co-workers."

Now, this case has been settled out of court and as a part of the settlement the employer involved had to revise its broad social media policy. However, I'm sure the NLRB and other groups will eventually pursue other social media cases.

I agree that it's smart to be cautious online. However, the notion that employers can control so much of our non-working time and activity is a little too Orwellian for me. I will be glad to see the eventual establishment of legal signposts clarifying rights for both employers and employees with regard to speech via social media.

That situation very well may have happened...but here is the REALITY of it.

1. The employee still got fired.

2. The employee never got rehired.

3. Had to wait months, possibly a couple of years for a settlement (which wasn't disclosed, for all we know it could have been a few hundred dollars).

4. Had to hire an attorney to get it done.

Now, ask yourself...is that worth it to post about Facebook, protected speech or not?

To me it isn't!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment