Would You Fire Someone for Trying to Make a Co-Worker Laugh?

This is a story about a Michigan teacher's aide who was fired, she claims, for trying to crack up a co-worker–and out of hours, too.
But like many workplace-related giggles gone awry in the 21st century, this one begins in social media, or more specifically, Facebook.
In April 2011 Kimberly Hester, a teacher's aide at Frank Squires Elementary in the village of Cassopolis, Michigan, posted to Facebook a photo of a co-worker's pants around her ankles and a pair of shoes. The caption: “Thinking of you." (See the photo here.)
“It was very mild, no pornography,” Hester told Michigan's WSBT TV station. She added: “It wasn't at work, it was off work time."
A parent at Lewis Cass Intermediate who was friends with Hester on the social network promptly alerted the school to the photo. (Hester's aide job was at the elementary school, but she technically was employed by Lewis-Cass Intermediate.)
Lewis Cass Intermediate superintendent Robert Colby called Hester into his office a few days later and, according to her, asked her three times for access to her Facebook page, which was private.
"I repeatedly said I was not OK with that,” Hester told WSBT.
Within days, Hester received a letter from the Lewis Cass ISD Special Education Director, which she provided the TV station. It read, in part: “…in the absence of you voluntarily granting Lewis Cass ISD administration access to you[r] Facebook page, we will assume the worst and act accordingly."
She was put on administrative leave and eventually suspended.
“I have the right to privacy,” she told WSBT.
Hester has taken legal action.
“I stand by it,” she said. “I did nothing wrong. And I would not, still to this day, let them in my Facebook. And I don’t think it’s OK for an employer to ask you.”
But University of Notre Dame labor law professor Barbara Frick told the TV station that the school didn’t break any laws by asking for Hester’s Facebook information.
Right now there are no state or federal laws protecting social media privacy in the workplace, Frick said. Michigan currently is one of several states pushing for legislation that would make an employer's asking for a Facebook password illegal, though–and the social network itself has said it will seek legal action against offending employers.
Both sides are scheduled to go to arbitration in May.
Last week, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives defeated an amendment titled "Mind Your Own Business on Passwords", that would have banned employers demanding access to Facebook accounts. (Democrats had added the provision to a larger Federal Communications Commission reform package.) It can still return as separate legislation.
Also last week, a pair of senators (Democrats Charles Schumer of New York and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut) called for an investigation to determine whether employers asking for Facebook passwords are breaking the law. They sent letters to the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, questioning whether the practice is in violation of laws prohibiting intentional unauthorized access to electronic information.

19:00 by Robert dawne · 0

Would You Fire Someone for Mocking Your Company Online?

Gailen David, an American Airlines flight attendant who mocked the beleaguered company in a series of online videos, has been fired, according to a post on his Facebook page.

David, a flight attendant for 24 years, also runs a website called DearSkySteward.com that includes company gossip.

David has long provoked the company, but the incidents that were his undoing, it seems, began when the American Airlines vice president for onboard services sent a letter to flight attendants David described as "patronizing."

The letter explained to workers the "joint" sacrifices that needed to be made at the company.

"I decided to make a video, so what I did was I dressed up," he told the Broward New Times. "All I did was read the letter, and I added a couple of y'alls and honeys."

He posted the video early last month; it now has more than 56,000 views. His success–he said it struck a chord with his fellow employees–spurred him to make a fake movie trailer called, in homage to Iron Lady, Aluminum Lady. That one featured a fictional (or so he said) vice president.

On his site, he described the video this way:

The Aluminum Lady [is] the most dangerous woman in aviation. She's skillfully taken American Airlines, one of the most admired airlines, to its lowest point and the morale of its flight attendants and their fellow employees right along with it. From their Dallas/Ft. Worth Headquarters to the lavish American Airlines London Townhouse, this historical drama will keep you on the edge of your seat and bring tears to your eyes.

The video received more than 52,000 views.

American Airlines asked him to take the video down. He refused.

"And they said, 'What do you want from us?'" he told the New Times.

The union told him they planned to fire him, but he says he told them: "It's worth it for me, because you would not believe how it's brought the workers together."

Still, he carried on making videos. On March 14, the company fired him.

According to the March 14 dismissal letter David posted on his Facebook page (view a photo of it here), he was fired for promoting rival airlines as well as for publishing private details about customers of the airline.

The letter said an American Airlines investigation found that Google had placed ads for competing airlines on David's website and that he was "making public the travel itineraries of passengers, including current and former members of the American Airlines management team. On the site, you stated that the travel information was being provided to you by 'moles' at American Airlines."

It said he was in violation of American Airlines Rules of Conduct 24,  which states: "Consider the welfare of the company and your fellow employees. Perform no act that is detrimental to either."

Bruce Hicks, a spokesman for AA, said in a statement that David had been warned previously about conflict of interest and passenger privacy violations. He added that AA was very serious about the privacy of its passengers and did not allow workers to violate that trust.

A posting on David's Facebook page said he planned to make a video in response to his firing.

17:50 by Robert dawne · 0