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Can you be fired for making Facebook comments?

Facebook and other social media have, over the past half decade or so, become an integral part of our lives, so much so that it has become important to point out the necessity of social media legacy planning – what to do with your Facebook and Twitter accounts when you die.

Another area of interest that didn’t really exist five years ago (outside of more static and slow-moving personal blogs and websites) is how your online behaviour can affect how your employer determines your performance and “fit” for the job.

In other words, your Facebook comments may get you terminated.

In one case in British Columbia in 2010, an employer fired an employee after the employer perceived the employee was making threatening comments on his Facebook page.

The employer concluded its investigation and terminated them for cause on the basis that the comments were inappropriate and insubordinate and created a hostile work environment.  The employer also noted that: the comments were of the nature that they were likely to damage the reputation and business interests of the employer.

As part of the mix, the workplace had recently certified, and the union argued that the termination was based in part on anti-union animus – the termination was therefore and unfair labour practice.

However, the BC Labour Relations Board disagreed, saying essentially that making comments on Facebook is the same thing as making comments on the “shop floor”, and the comments made on Facebook were intended to humiliate the employer (the employee who made the comments had many Facebook “friends” were present and former employees of the employer.

As well, it did not matter that the employer did not have a policy or workplace rule prohibiting inappropriate postings on Facebook.

So what’s the lesson? In the eyes of the Labour Relations Board, at least, you have no expectation of privacy on Facebook!

However, if you have any questions, be sure to consult with our employment lawyers in Victoria.

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