Fired Because of Social Media - Workology

Fired Because of Social Media - Workology Fired Because of Social Media It is a digital and social media world we are living in with the use of social media, blogging, video tablets and smartphones only growing in popularity. This new level of personal and  professional  transparency combined with the availability of mobile technology heightens the likelihood that your workplace will be impacted with social media in some way. Its likely that your recruiting team is using social media as a candidate recruiting and sourcing tool. Quite possibly, your organization is using internal social media and collaborative communication tools to increase productivity and connectivity. Due to the increase of employee firings, layoff announcements and terminations that are happenings through social media channels, I thought it best to create a timeline of known events and case studies that are brought to our attention through the power of social media, online media and traditional news sources. Fired Because of Social Media This list you see before you is not meant to be all encompassing. It is ever growing and changing as new instances are brought to our attention through the power of you by leaving a comment below. This list was created to show how important social media and technology is in our lives as well as work and to help executives and business leaders make a decision to embrace the tools not ban them from organizations. Because of the  prevalence  of technology, companies have two decisions they can make: 1) Embrace the technology or 2) Avoid the technology. The problem is that even without a companys involvement social media and technology is being used to share and tell their story. Companies have to embrace the technology and find ways to educate and train their employees how to use it while also preparing for the inevitable social media misstep that will take their company viral. 2017 February   Dan Grilo, a Hilary Clinton volunteer lost his job from Liberty Mutual after mocking a widow of a Navy Seal on Twitter. January School administrator and social media manager, Katie Nash roasts kid on Twitter loses job. 2016 December Michigan firefighter, Ryan Hudson fired after posting racist comments about black lives matter on Facebook. Canadian nurse, Carolyn Strom who vented on Facebook found guilty of unprofessional conduct. July Police officer, Rodney Lee Wilson  threatens child on Facebook and loses job. June Bank of America  terminates employee after racists Facebook rank goes viral. Two Memphis police officers suspended for Snapchat updates. 2015 November 7 Mistakes made on Social Media that can get you fired. September Claire Shepherd was fired 30 minutes after she started her job as a Retail Merchandiser at Dee Set for a hand tattoo. August 8 Social Media posts that  led to immediate termination March Vulgar Tweets to MLB star Curt Schillings daughter,  forces Curt to tweet back which gets the Cyber Bully fired. 2014 May Rap Genius CEO fired after comments made on Facebook about the California shooter. 2013 January Server, Chelsea Welch fired from her job at Applebees after  posting a customers receipt on the online website, Reddit Social Media Manager, Poppy Rose  live tweets department layoff  from the HMV corporate Twitter account. Story goes viral as managers are scrambling to reset corporate Twitter account password Bitter Barista Matt Watson was  fired over his snarky blog 23 year old Colorado teacher was fired for tweeting naked twerk photos and pictures of her smoking marijuana February KFC worker fired for posting photo of her licking a bowl of  potatoes on social media     March   Adria Richards is fired from SendGrid after she tweeted about conference attendees discussing topics she found to be inappropriate and of a sexual nature. SendGrid  announces her termination  via Twitter and Facebook Groupon CEO, Andrew Mason  announces that he was fired via Twitter  to employees, investors and customers Australian Miners  fired for posting Harlem Shake video  on YouTube Carly McKinney, 23 year old high school teacher, was  fired after tweeting nude photos of herself  while calling her students jailbait and talks about getting high June Taco Bell fires employee for licking tacos and posting photo of it on Facebook July   Subway employees fired for posting pictures on Instagram and Twitter of male private parts in sandwiches and frozen urine Investigative reporter, Shea Allen fired after posting a confession on her blog that included sleeping on the job and stealing mail to snag a story September Employee,  Marina Shifrin resigns from job using a recorded dance video. Oddly enough, the company produces videos Pax Dickeron, CTO of Business Insider forced to resign after company discovers his inflammatory and offensive tweets October White House Aide, Jofi Joseph, fired after admitting he was a Twitter Troll November High School Coach Was Fired For This Facebook Photo December PR Exec is fired for offensive tweet 2012 August Adam Smith’s life has been turned upside-down in the 36 hours that followed his posting the video of his protest at Chick-fil-A, which involved letting a young female employee at the drive-thru know what he thinks about the company Cameron Jankowsk, an employee of Taco Bell is fired after someone posts a photo on Twitter of him peeing on a plate of nachos July Three employees fired at Burger King in Ohio for posting a photo that when viral on Reddit as well as social media of employees stepping in bowls of lettuce meant for paying customers.   November Lindsey Stone is fired after posting a photo on Facebook of her disrespecting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier goes viral.   Denise Helms was fired after calling Obama the N-Word and said she hoped he was assissinated. December Meteorologist, Rhonda Lee is fired from news station after to  responding to a viewer comment on Facebook  criticizing  her short hair cut. 2011 January ACLU sends letter on behalf of employee, Robert Collins inquiring about Maryland Division of Corrections practice of requesting Facebook passwords as part of the employment process.   Febuary Teacher, Ashley Payne, fired over Facebook picture with glass of wine and mug of beer Nir Rosen was fired after posting insensitive remarks on Twitter. March Gilbert Gottfried is fired as voice of Aflac duck after he tweets racists comments after Japanese Tsunami.   Scott Bartosiewicz worked for Chrysler when he posted a tweet that offended the entire City of Detroit. Teacher Christine Rubio was fired after joking about killing students. April Nichole Crowther, Glee extra, fired over posting spoiler on Twitter Buckhingham Palace guard, Cameron Reilly, was relieved of royal wedding duties for posting rude comments about Kate Middleton on his Facebook page White Sox Manager gets suspended for two games after tweeting about his ejection from the baseball game May Sportsnet host, Damian Goddard, fired over anti-gay marriage ads. June Anthony Weiner tweeted lewd pictures of his man parts. 2010 Febuary Congressman Chris Lee Resigns Due to Embarassing Craigslist Photo Firefighter Jason Brown  fired over Facebook post of viritual degratory firefighter video. April CNN Employee, Mike Bacsik, gets fired over controversial tweet over passing of Lebanon leader. Employee, Rebecca Fobes, vents about job on Facebook, gets fired. Tania Dickinson was fired after describing her job as a  very expensive paperweight Mike Bacsik fired from job as radio host after posting racist tweets May Brixx Pizza fires waitress Ashley Johnson for Complaining About Tip on Facebook Catherine Deverny was fired after attacking various stars on Twitter during the Logie Awards Australian comedian was fired from writing job for tweeting joke in bad taste Ashley Johnson fired from job after complaining about customers on Facebook June BMW dealerhsip fires Robert Becker over negative Facebook comments. Pittsburgh Pirate pierogi mascot, Andrew Kurtz,  fired for bashing team on Facebook page August   Renee Gork was fired for wearing a Flordia Gators hat to an Arkansas Hogs news conference. She was a radio personality September Seven doctors and nurses were fired for posting photos of them laying down on the job or planking on Facebook   December Frank Samuelson, youth football coach fired over racists comments on Facebook 2009 March Eagles fires Dan Leone for calling them retarded on Facebook Connor Riley complained about his job on Twitter and got fired April Swiss employee fired after calling in sick but was found to be spending time on Facebook. Company was said to have created ficticious persona that friended her on the social networking site   June David Le was fired after he posted negative comments about his summer youth job while on contract in DC. October Jon-Barrett Ingles was fired after tweeting about  Hung  star Jane Adams not tipping. September Timothy DeLaGhetto was fired for complaing about his job on Twitter.   December Employee, Dawnmarie Souza, fired over derogatory comments about her supervisor on Facebook Natalie Blanchard was fired for posting vacation photos on Facebook while she was off work for depression on disability 2008 Novemeber Seven employees of the Farm Boy grocery chain fired for making derogatory comments about the Ottawa company and its customers in an internet chat room New England Patriots cheerleader, Caitlin Davis was fired photo was  posted on Facebook that was controversial photo Teacher, Nora Carr fired after updating her Facebook interests which could be seen as discriminatory 2007 January Patriots Cheerleader, Caitlin Davis, Fired After  Facebook Swastika Photo Febuary   Walmart employee, David Noordewier, fired after bomb threat joke fizzles online. 2002 February Blogger, Heather Armstrong was fired from her job because she blogged about work colleagues on her website Dooce.com.   Did we leave some out? This is a running crowdsourced this of terminations and firings related to social media activities by employees. Leave a comment below with a description and link if available, and well work to add it to the running list. Check out a related timeline of History of Mergers Acquisitions for HR Technology by clicking here.