Fired because of Facebook???

BabyLady, BSN, RN · Mar 12, 2011

Why mention it at all?

Because the Facebook account is how I choose to social network with friends...many of whom are healthcare professionals and that is an event that is in my life and I have ever right to post it. :yeah:

It does not mention a situation at work involving a patient or a case.

It does not bash my employer or supervisor.

It ONLY involves me.

Therefore, does not violate my social networking policy.

BabyLady, BSN, RN · Mar 12, 2011

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:

Here is some advice I will give you from someone who has been in the workforce for a 20+ years.

Employers are very smart about the legalities of things, for the most part. You only hear about stupid cases that have lawsuits in the news from mentally deficient HR generalists who didn't know HOW to fire someone.

Grounds for a lawsuit: "We are terminating you, Susie, because you have been making statements at work about wishing we were a union organization and we feel that you may be instrumental in possibly bringing a union to this company...we don't want that...so we are terminating your employment as of today."

No grounds for a lawsuit: (knowing Susie made the same statements)..."Susie, we have just decided that you are no longer a fit for our organization. So your employment ends as of today." Susie: "Why am I being fired?" Employer: "We don't need to give you a reason..so please gather your things and leave."

Unless you are independently wealthy or do not need your job...a few weeks of no paycheck would financially ruin most of us...it sure as heck would for me.

I live in an area where there is ONE major hospital system..unless I want to work for a doc's office and make half of what I am making now, sometimes you have to eat a little crow to keep a job. Knowing your rights and being right means very little if you have no food to put on the table for your children or you are doubled up with relatives or living in a shelter because you wanted your "rights" so much that it cost you your job.

Years ago, I had a MASSIVE discrimination case against a former employer...I will not post the details here., but it was in another industry that was my only job skill at the time before I entered nursing. The attorney I went to see said I could easily expect a 6-figure settlement, but it would take 3 to 5 years to collect..but she felt strongly it was clear cut as there was mountains of concrete evidence on my favor.

You know why I did not persue it? Because the attorney ALSO advised me, "You do realize that if you file this, you'll most likely never be able to work in your line of work in this town again and your new employer will find a way to force you out...I see it all the time."

I had two children to feed and there was no way I could risk losing the new job that I had over a "somewhat" sure thing of a major settlement. It really, really bothered me to let my former employer "win"..but I may have ended up being the bigger loser if I let my ego get the best of me.

Katie5 · Mar 12, 2011

Because the Facebook account is how I choose to social network with friends...many of whom are healthcare professionals and that is an event that is in my life and I have ever right to post it.
It does not mention a situation at work involving a patient or a case.
It does not bash my employer or supervisor.
It ONLY involves me.
Therefore, does not violate my social networking policy.

Ok. Hopefully, nothing comes of this.

theVoice · Mar 12, 2011

I didn't take the time to read all the replies on this FB scandle. Is it possible that there were HIPPA violations in the nurses posts. Maybe they were talking about what happened in their day and spoke specifically about something that happened with a patien(s). i know sometimes I wanna go on FB - my only social life_ and purge about some of the things that I've seen and been through on that day. But I don't!

robynlg · Mar 12, 2011

I was not fired, but I was suspended for 3 days without pay for commenting about a manager on FB. I ended up quitting. I did not want to work for a place that thought they had control over what I did or said on my own time. No names or place of employment were EVER mentioned. It was on my own time and was silly comments. Someone made a copy of it and gave it to the manager. 6 people were either counseled, suspended and 1 was fired. I had worked there for 5 years without ever having any kind of incident. We contacted a lawyer and he said out rights were violated. There are laws that protect workers on their free time. Plus, there was not a policy at the workplace that had anything in it about social media. We were on our own time from our own computers. Management just thought they could discipline people for this. I think it was an abusive use of power. It has taken me a year to finally be at peace with this. I know I was not wrong.

BabyLady, BSN, RN · Mar 12, 2011

I was not fired, but I was suspended for 3 days without pay for commenting about a manager on FB. I ended up quitting. I did not want to work for a place that thought they had control over what I did or said on my own time. No names or place of employment were EVER mentioned. It was on my own time and was silly comments. Someone made a copy of it and gave it to the manager. 6 people were either counseled, suspended and 1 was fired. I had worked there for 5 years without ever having any kind of incident. We contacted a lawyer and he said out rights were violated. There are laws that protect workers on their free time. Plus, there was not a policy at the workplace that had anything in it about social media. We were on our own time from our own computers. Management just thought they could discipline people for this. I think it was an abusive use of power. It has taken me a year to finally be at peace with this. I know I was not wrong.

...and I'll be the first to admit, you were not wrong, especially when they did not have a social networking policy.

However, it is a good lesson on the realities of working, when you do, truly need a job.

I grew up without the internet and was in my late 20's before I even had a computer...I too, have had to learn along the way.

The vast majority of the people that are getting in trouble are the younger, fresh-out-of-college nurses or our student interns, who went through their adolescent years with the internet and social networking always being there...so they do not realize how far reaching the damage can be.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Mar 12, 2011

I guess it also depends on you and your circle of friends. The majority of my facebook friends are nurses. We all enjoy keeping in touch, but everyone is VERY careful about what they post. Example; "had a good shift" or "very busy tonight." We know better. Also, I didn't grow up with computers, so I guess I just don't understand why some people are compelled to share everything they do.

DDdove, LPN · Mar 12, 2011

We were given a paper to sign for our nursing school that said we were not aloud to say anything negetive about the school, clinical place or instructors :)

starzrn · Mar 12, 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.

Next you'll be fired if someone sees you at a rated R movie on your own time. Must be scared of lawsuits!

Pappilli0n · Mar 12, 2011

One good thing about being retired.....you can control your own life without the ever present authoritarian rule of

a nursing manager! My brain has finally quieted down and my dreams aren't as scarey anymore. I have come to

grips with the fact that I am only human and have made my share of mistakes, but this I can say about my 20 years of nursing experiences.....I never killed anyone and I did my best every shift I worked, plus, I made it home

safely each time. :nurse:

Pappilli0n · Mar 12, 2011

...and I'll be the first to admit, you were not wrong, especially when they did not have a social networking policy.
However, it is a good lesson on the realities of working, when you do, truly need a job.
I grew up without the internet and was in my late 20's before I even had a computer...I too, have had to learn along the way.
The vast majority of the people that are getting in trouble are the younger, fresh-out-of-college nurses or our student interns, who went through their adolescent years with the internet and social networking always being there...so they do not realize how far reaching the damage can be.

"You never screw the hand that feeds you.":nurse:

BabyLady, BSN, RN · Mar 12, 2011

To the younger folks (under 30)....I'll say this.

I have seen, more people, lose their jobs over the internet than incompetence in my career, once it became commonplace.

BIG salaried, position jobs. Everything from pulling up Media at work, to emailing adult-oriented jokes through company computers at home, to staying in chatrooms, Facebooking, MySpacing, you name it, I have seen it.

The employers, always gave tons of warnings and they were ignored...it was never until a couple were called into the managers office that they were sitting there crying a river begging for "one more chance"...but the employer would send out multiple e-mails to all employees, saying that the problem was being monitored by IT, they CAN see where you go and how long you stay on a website.

Unless you have a union job folks, they may not TELL you that they are firing you for "free speech" but I can assure you, they can find a laundry list of legal reasons to launch a campaign to get rid of you and make it stick in court if you ever sue them...the lawsuits you hear about are about stupid employers, SMART ones know how to get rid of someone and get unemployment denied on top of it.

As nurses, unless you have a contract guaranteeing you a position in a particular unit, they can come up to you tomorrow and say, "Oh, yeah, we don't need you in the NICU anymore, we are relocating you permanently you to "...and unless you are willing to quit, if they percept you, you HAVE to go.

Atypical? Yes. Unlikely? Probably. But possible? Absolutely.