Lauren Candito live on Fox 35 WOFL news talking about a teacher who got fired for complaining about her job via Facebook. Learn more about the story here!
A Cohasset, MA teacher, Dr. June Talvitie-Siple, learned a hard lesson this week. She was forced to resign over her comments spiraling from her Facebook profile.
The math and science teacher, and program supervisor, wrote on her Facebook profile: “The people are arrogant and snobby.” She added: “I’m so not looking forward to another year at Cohasset schools…Kids…they are germ bags!”
When Siple thought her comments were private, meaning only broadcast to her close friends, she was wrong. The postings were soon discovered by Cohasset parents this past Tuesday, causing such a fury that the teacher was soon forced to resign.
Siple said she honestly thought her Facebook settings were set to private and took full responsibility for not doing so.
This isn’t the first time teachers get reprimanded for content on their Facebook profiles. A Georgia high school teacher was forced to resign after her principal “questioned her about her Facebook page, which included photos of her holding wine and beer and an expletive, ” CBSAtlanta reports. The teacher is now suing the school district because, she claims, she was not informed that she had the right to a hearing before stepping down. The National Education Association reveals that in other states, several young teachers and school staffers have put their jobs at risk by revealing personal information that parents and supervisors find inappropriate.
Getting fired over a Facebook post goes beyond the classroom. Ashley Johnson, a former waitress at Brixx, a pizza restaurant in North Carolina, claims she was fired from her job for complaining about customers on her Facebook account.
According to CBSNews, Johnson became irritated after she had to stay past her shift to wait on a table of two. When the table finally cleared out, they left what Johnson deemed an inadequate tip. “Thanks for eating at Brixx,” she reportedly wrote on her Facebook page, before using profanity and calling the customers “cheap.”
Johnson told UPI.com that she accepts responsibility for her actions but didn’t expect to be fired over something she calls “very small.” One of the restaurant’s co-owners, however, said that Johnson had violated company policy: “We definitely care what people say about our customers.”
A little Facebook post can affect a lot of people. It may even cost your job. Just make sure before you publish anything on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or anywhere else, you haven’t friended one of your colleagues or bosses before you make a rude remark about them or your place of work. There are still ways your message can get out, so it’s best to keep it yourself. Just because social media is about transparency doesn’t mean you have to be transparent in everything you do. Transparency comes with a cost, in some case it’s you giving your own privacy and in another case losing a job, just like the examples above.
Here are some tips for posting on Facebook:
- Don’t curse on your personal or professional Facebook Page. Watch what your friends say on your wall, too!
- Don’t share something on your profile that you wouldn’t want your boss to see!
- Be careful of the pictures you add to your profile, they can also reflect you professionally.
- Change your privacy settings on Facebook: who can search for you, what people see from your posts or profile
Also, check out the “10 Do’s and Don’ts for job-related activities on your personal SM site”: http://socialmediasolutionsllc.com/archives/813
*Press*, fox 35 news, lauren candito
