The Workplace Collateral Damage Caused By Social Media Posts

The Internet is always mere minutes away from derailing a career, irrespective of whether the target of the attacks deserves it

Canadians were shaken when news broke of the sudden passing of former Calgary Flame, Johnny Gaudreau, and his brother, Matthew, two weeks ago. The brothers were tragically struck by a drunk driver while riding their bicycles on the eve of their sister's wedding.The driver was Sean M. Higgins of Woodstown, New Jersey, who admitted to police that he had consumed "five or six beers" prior to getting behind the wheel and continued to drink en route to killing two people.

Unfortunately, an entirely different Sean Higgins, also of Woodstown, New Jersey, suffered collateral damage thanks to so-called Internet sleuths, who quickly found and disseminated his address, while Sean M. Higgins was already in police custody. The innocent Sean Higgins was at a concert with his daughters when word got out and was later subjected to unfettered abuse and ha