Cause for Termination in the Age of Social Media

• Author: Jonathan Maier
• Pages: 281-304



CauseforTermination

intheAgeofSocialMedia

Jonathan Maier*

AINTRODUCTION

Debatesanddiatribesamongemployeesregardingtheirworkingcon-

ditions supervisors and colleagues long predate the advent of social

medianetworksAtonetimesuchmaerswereaddressedonlythrough

facetofacediscussionsbothinsideandoutsidetheworkplaceAstech-

nologychangedthesecommunicationseventuallyfoundtheirwayinto

electronicformthroughemailandtextmessagesMorerecentlyastech-

nologyhascontinuedtoevolveonlineblogsandsocialmediawebsites

suchasFacebookandTwierhaveprovidedmoreadvancedandexpan-

siveforumsfortheseactivitiesSocialmediatoolshaveenabledemploy-

eestocommunicatebothintentionallyandunintentionallywithalarger

audienceatanytimefromanywhereintheworldmerelythroughac-

cesstoacomputer

This paper will explore several issues related to circumstances

whereanemployeesbehaviouronsocialmediaoutletscansupporthis

orherdismissalforcauseItwillfocusprimarilyoncaseswhereanem-

ployeesonlinebehaviouroccurswhenheorsheisoduty

This paper will not address circ umstances where an employee is ter-

minatedduetoexcessiveuseofsocialmediatoolsduringtimeswhen

theemployeeisexpectedtoworkPutsimplyitisdiculttoseewhythe

 JonathanMaierisanassociateatHicksMorleyHamiltonStewartStorieLLP

Torontowithalegalpracticethatencompasseslabourandemploymentlaw

JM

summarydismissalofanemployeewhowastestoomuchtimeonhisor

herFacebookaccountshouldbetreatedanydierentlythanamoretrad-

itional situation where an employee wastes too much working time on

moretraditionalleisurelypursuitsEmploymentlawprinciplesconcern-

ingtimewastingandtheinappropriateuseofworktimedonotneed

signicantmodicationsimplybecauseemployeeshavebeenpresented

withanewwaytodistractthemselvesfromcompletingtheirwork

Usingwellestablishedemploymentlawprinciplesemployershave

beenabletouseanemployeesodutycommentsorconducttosupport

anemployeesdismissalforcauseprovidedthatthebehaviouratissue

wassucientlydamagingtotheemployersreputationThisapproach

is still used in a n era where many employees access social media outlets

dailyNeverthelessinthisnewdigitalagetheestablishedprincipleson

how an employer responds to injurious social media content created or

disseminatedbyitsemployeesshouldbereviewedandrened

Thisproposedreviewandrenementisnecessaryfortwospecic

reasons First employee communications that are made using social

media tools are qualitatively dierent from communications t hat are

madeusingmoretraditionalmodesBlogpostsFacebookcommentsand

Twierstatusupdatesthatunfairlydisparageormalignanemployers

businessworkforceorstandinginthecommunitycanbefarmoredam-

agingthanthosethataremadeusingoldermeansofcommunication

Second labour arbitrators and other administrative adjudicators have

beguntoaddressissuesinvolvingtheterminationofemployeesforso-

cialmediamisdeedsusingananalyticalframeworkthatisbroaderthan

thetraditionalemploymentlawframeworkThetraditionalemployment

lawframeworkhasoftenfocusedontheconsequencesthatmaybefall

anemployersreputationIncontrasttheapproachusedbylabourarbi-

tratorsallowsforanexaminationofmoretypesofharmincludingthe

harmsueredbyotherpartiesintheworkplacerelationshipThereisno

reasonwhythisbroaderanalyticalframeworkshouldbeconnedtothe

unionizedworkplaceoraparticularstatutoryadjudicativeregimeThe

potentialexpansionofthisframeworkwithintheeldofemployment

lawmeritscloserexamination

This paper is divided into three ma in parts The rst part of the

paper will provide a brief review of the traditional employment law

principlesthatapplywhenanemployeeisterminatedforcausebecause

ofodutyconductItwillthenexplainwhyemployeecommunications

madeusingsocialmediatoolsarequalitativelydierentfromcommuni-

cations made using more traditional methods Finally the paper will

provideamoredetailedexaminationoftheanalyticalframeworkthat