Is it legal to be fired over an on-line post, when other people post worse things?
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Is it legal to be fired over an on-line post, when other people post worse things?
I work for a utility company and was forced to work a 15 hour night shift, as you probably can imagine it was hard, so I went on my private facebook page and posted a comment and a co-worker that I was “friends” with told on me. My boss was on vacation so it never went through the “normal” channels, it was taken directly to HR. Is this legal? Especially if I never stated the actual company’s name?
Asked on August 31, 2011 New Jersey
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Did you have an employment contract or union agreement that prohibited termination under these circumstances? Was such a discharge against existing company policy? Was your firing the result of actionable discrimination (i.e. based on your religion, gender, race, etc). If you answer to all of the above is, "No", then you were an "at will" employee. Accordingly your employer could set the terms and conditions of your employment as it saw fit. This included your dismissal for this reason, any reason, or no reason at all. This is true regardless of how other employees were treated.
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