Social Media Dismissals

We are hearing more and more of employees who are dismissed from their employment because of private postings made on their own social media sites. The actor from Coronation Street who was recently dismissed by ITV because he made discriminatory postings on his personal Twitter account is a prime example of this.

Set out below are some factors that an employer should consider when faced with this type of situation:

• Consider what was actually said – saying "I think I work in a nursery and I do not mean working with plants" is very different to saying "[manager] is apparently a c**t" (both of which are real examples featuring in cases dealt with by the Employment Tribunal).
• Evaluate the reach and impact of the posting – the more posts that are made and the more people that see them, the more likely it is to have a damaging impact. Just because a person posts their comments on, say, their private Facebook page, does not necessarily mean that they should expect it