Anti-social media

John Bosworth examines a recent employment tribunal case where an employee had been dismissed for comments she made on Facebook about her customers.

An employer's decision to dismiss an employee for gross misconduct after she made inappropriate comments on Facebook about customers was fair, according to an employment tribunal.

Facts

In Preece v JD Wetherspoons plc ET2104806/10, the pub manager, Ms Preece, logged on to Facebook during a shift to post derogatory remarks about customers who had verbally abused and threatened her earlier that day. Her argument that she was venting her understandable anger and frustration did not hold weight with her employer, who took the view that the Facebook conversation appeared to make a joke of the confrontation.

The Tribunal Decision

The Tribunal held that Ms Preece's employer was entitled to come to the conclusion that her comments did not reflect her upset and anger, but instead appeared to make light of the situation.

Furthermore, the Tribunal found that Ms Preece knew that she could use a "hotline" to seek the advice of an experienced manager or, if she felt distressed, to ask permission to leave work early.

It did not matter that she thought that her Facebook privacy settings meant that only close friends could see her entries:  the fact was that a wider audience, including relatives of the customers in question, were able to see the comments, and to link them to Ms Preece's employer. The risk of damage to the pub's reputation was therefore significant.

For these reasons, Ms Preece was found to be in breach of the employer's e-mail and internet policy, which specifically referred to employees' use of social media sites such as Facebook.

Comment

This case highlights the importance for employers of maintaining and enforcing a properly-drafted policy about the use of social media, particularly during working time. Employees should bear in mind that, despite blogging having become a widely used means of communication, social media sites are not a suitable forum for venting work-related frustrations.

John Bosworth is a partner at Ashfords. He can be contacted on 01392 333842 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..