When Can Your Employer 'Unlike' You?: Just Cause for Dismissal and Social Media

AuthorDenis Ellickson and Meg Atkinson
Pages259-280

WhenCanYourEmployer
UnlikeYou
JUS T C AUSE F ORDI S M ISSA L
ANDSOCIALMEDIA
DenisEllicksonandMegAtkinson*
Withinthe pastdecadesocialmedia hasd rasticallyc hangedthe ways
in whichp eoplerelate Social media allows users toma kestatements
post photosa nds end messages that may be viewed bya w ideaudi-
enceforwardedtoawideraudiencea ndpermanentlyrecordedT here
aresoc ialnetworking sitessuc has Facebookand LinkedIn individual
blogsitesmicrobloggingsiteslikeTwierlesharingsitesl ikeFlickr
comchatsitessuchasGmailchatandMSNMessengersitesthatpermit
commentsfromthepublicandmorepeoplecanconnectandsharein
seeminglyinnite waysMoreoverthei ncreasingus eof mobilehand
helddeviceswithInternetandso cialmediaimplementsallowsusersto
communicateinstantlyandonthespurofthemomentPeoplenowhave
anunprecendentedabil itytocon nectwith oneanothershare informa-
tion and issue public statements about any range of things In many
wayswe are all more connected tha n weeven knowsomet hing that
canbeabig problemforemployeeswhenforexampletheiremployers
unexpectedly views posts on Facebookwhichcou ldcompromise con-
tinuedemployment
Thispaper willexplai nhowposts madebyemployeesoduty be-
comethesubjectofworkplacedisciplineUsingexamplesfromcaselaw
thepaperwi llthen discuss thecontexts inwhich employershavebeen
* DenisEllick sonisapartn eratCaleyWrayandcurrentlyc hairoftheLaboura nd
EmploymentSectionofth eOntarioBarAss ociationMegAtki nsonarticle dat
CaleyWrayandwascalledtotheba rin
DEMA
foundto havejust lyterm inatedor disciplined employeesfor inappro-
priateusagesofsoc ialmediai ncludingpostst hatarei nsubordinateto
managersprejudicialorinjur ioustotheemployersbusinessoperation
orinviolationofworkplacepoliciesThecaselawdealingwithdiscipline
asitconnectstosocialmediaalsorevealsthatdecisionmakerswillcon-
sideranumberofotherfactorssuchast henatureofthe employeesjob
thenumberofpeopleinandoutsidetheworkplacewhodidseeorcould
haveseenthepostthenumberofpostsandmore
Inadditiontos eingoutt hesefactorsth ispaperwil lalso analyze
theextent towhich the social mediaa nddismissalcas elawdeals with
importantemployeerightssuchasfreespeecht herighttoprivacyand
the employees right to a fair consistent workplacein whic h progres-
sivedisciplineandappropriatewarningsareissuedtoemployeesWhile
there is no doubtt hati n the age ofs ocial media employeesmust be
vigilanttopreventi nappropriateinformationfrom reachingt hewrong
peoplethroughsocialmediath ispaperwillarguethatemployersmust
alsobeawareoftheirdutiestoemployeesinusingsocialmediaasatool
for monitoring employeesand controll ing the workplacepart icularly
where such use leads to disciplinary i nterventions The use of social
mediashouldnotderogatef romanemployeesabilitytoleadafreepri-
vateindependentlifeoutsidework
As a preliminar y notemuch of the jur isprudence in the area of
dismissal and social mediacomes from thelabour relations contextas
oppose dtot hecou rtbas edemploy mentc ontext Altho ught herea reob-
viousdierences between thetwo forumsparticularlywith respect to
thedec isionmaker spowerto orderremed iesmany of the workplace
considerationswillbequitesimila r
AOF FDU TYPOST I N G S ONSOC I AL
MEDIASITES
Most of the problematic comments and postings made on social net-
working sites are made by peoplewhen t hey are o dutyGenerally
speaking when employees are o dutythey may carr y on their per-
sonallivesinprivacyandemployersarenotpermiedtoactascustod-
iansoftheiremployeescharacterHowevertherearecirc umstancesin
 DonaldJMBrownDavidMBeayChri stineDeaconCana dianLabourArbitra
tionlooseleafconsultedonMarc hthedAuroraCanadaLawBook
atKamsackTownvCanadianUnionofPublicEmployeesLocal
ErhardtGrievanceLACthPelton

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