Think your boss has no idea what you are doing online? Think again. Randall Stross has an interesting piece in the New York Times titled “How To Lose Your Job on Your Own Time,” where he points out the growing trend of employees losing their jobs based on inappropriate or unprofessional online content. Stross notes that the nature of the internet grants increased visibility to off-the-clock activities and employers are taking an interest in what workers post online.
“Many companies are using the Internet to snoop on their employees. If you fail to maintain amorphous ‘professional’ standards of conduct in your free time, you could lose your job.”
He goes on to state that the courts are far behind the internet in this matter.
“‘Employment law in most states provides little protection to workers who are punished for their online postings,’ said George Lenard, an employment lawyer at Harris Dowell Fisher & Harris in St. Louis.”
With the lack of legal recourse available to workers, employees are finding that poorly chosen words or photos posted online can lead to termination. Last year, a woman lost her teaching credentials and was dismissed from her teaching position at a Pennsylvania High School when administrators found her MySpace profile photo.
The incriminating snapshot, taken off school grounds and after working hours is “surprisingly innocuous” yet still lead to life altering consequences. In it, the woman wears a pirate hat and holds a large plastic cup. She labeled the pic “drunken pirate” and school officials said that her posting the photo online constituted a breach of professional standards and promoted underage drinking. The terminated teacher, in turn, filed suit against her former employer. No trial date has been set.
As we have seen often of late, online identity management is now a key component of working in the digital age for professionals in any field. ReputationDefender is the leader in Online Reputation Management.
30 comments ↓
[...] discusses how online social networking can damage employment prospects in the UK. While we’ve touched upon this topic before – particularly how it pertains to job applicants in the US – the stats and information [...]
[...] monitor their Facebook profiles in an increasingly wired world. The article, which does mention the damaging consequences of an unprofessional online profile, focuses on how to balance personal and professional networking [...]
[...] We’ve covered stories like this before. They are nothing new with the inter-connectedness of the web growing by leaps and bounds seemingly every day. [...]
[...] Blog has covered these types of stories before (see here, here and here) but this story is newsworthy because it shows that the number of HR people facile [...]
[...] people make judgments based on what they find on Google and Social Networking Sites. And teachers? You have to watch what you place online, as well. Bookmark [...]
[...] of time on the ReputationDefender Blog talking about how inappropriate material posted on Facebook, MySpace and other social networking sites can cause tremendous damage to an individual’s future school or [...]
[...] conducting Online Background Checks when evaluating employees or potential hires (see this ReputationDefender blog post for more on [...]
[...] prescient. Readers of the ReputationDefender Blog are by now familiar with the case of the teacher who was fired over MySpace photos. There are also examples of people being prosecuted in court and having their MySpace profiles used [...]
[...] readers of the ReputationDefender Blog will be familiar with the teacher who was fired for her MySpace photos. Now ReputationDefender has learned of another cautionary tale for professionals in the digital [...]
[...] readers will see a familiar pattern here. This scenario sounds like the Teacher who was fired for her MySpace photo or the bloggers who were fired for posting about their jobs online. The fact that Harvard minds are [...]
[...] Pennsylvania teacher who was dismissed from her job for posting a photo on her MySpace page labeled Drunk Pirate. The picture, though relatively tame by most standards, was judged by the school to be indicative [...]
[...] Thanks to the magic of the internet, we have this informative and entertaining interview on the ReputationDefender Blog for your listening pleasure and personal edification. [...]
[...] Teacher Fired Over MySpace Photo [...]
[...] Teacher Fired Over MySpace Photo [...]
[...] Teacher Fired Over MySpace Photo [...]
[...] ReputationDefender does much more! Read about the teacher who got fired for photo’s posted on MySpace. If you are a parent of kids online – don’t forget to learn more about ReputationDefender [...]
[...] as technology broadens our behaviors: cyber-cheating, MySpace bullying, online gossip, upskirting, employers’ Web snooping. When it comes to “sexting,” though, the potentially damaging implications — for [...]
[...] as technology broadens our behaviors: cyber-cheating, MySpace bullying, online gossip, upskirting, employers’ Web snooping. When it comes to “sexting,” though, the potentially damaging implications — for [...]
[...] spend a lot of time on the ReputationDefender Blog talking about how inappropriate social networking can end up costing you your job, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t any value to [...]
[...] ReputationDefender Blog has covered the threat that employees face with decreased privacy on social networking sites. [...]
[...] They think that they can write anything, post anything and even link to anything, even innappropriate or offensive material. Now while there are certain cirlces that have their own culture and personalities, what should you [...]
[...] for this blog (see for yourself). There are other examples of this happening, such as a teacher being fired for her MySpace picture and a nursing home assistent taking pictures with her patients. I have [...]
[...] for this blog (see for yourself). There are other examples of this happening, such as a teacher being fired for her MySpace picture and a nursing home assistent taking pictures with her patients. I have [...]
[...] their lives. Mayer-Schonberger cites the example of Stacy Snyder, a Pennsylvania teacher who was fired for a picture on MySpace labeled “Drunk Pirate,” as an [...]
[...] should know how important it is to be careful about what you share online. Not only can you be fired for what you post on the web, but you can hurt your chances of getting into school too. Despite countless stern warnings, [...]
[...] sensitive to parents demands, so much so, in fact, that even the most innocuous pictures can get a teacher fired if they’re viewed in the wrong [...]
[...] isn’t the first time we’ve talked about teachers getting in trouble over Facebook or Myspace pictures, and it probably won’t be the last. By now, it’s a known fact that social networking [...]
[...] media.” Fruhlinger covers many stories that we have talked about in the past (including the “Drunk Pirate” teacher who was fired for an extremely benign MySpace [...]
[...] media.” Fruhlinger covers many stories that we have talked about in the past (including the “Drunk Pirate” teacher who was fired for an extremely benign MySpace [...]
[...] Teacher Fired Over MySpace Photo [...]
Leave a Comment