Termination

O

Obx98

New Member
Jurisdiction
Virginia
I don't know if this would be a situation that would give me legal recourse or not but figured I would ask.

I was terminated today. The cause of termination was my Facebook. I'm aware that bad mouthing your company in a public platform is reasonable cause for termination. I did not post derogatory remarks on my wall. What I did do was talk to a friend in my private messages regarding an employee that has been abusive. These private messages were printed out with my letter of termination. I never provided my company with my Facebook password. I am not sure how she got into my Facebook. I did use the pc at work to log in to Facebook on my lunch, so I am assuming it was via a keystroke recorder. In the past logging in to Facebook on breaks has been an accepted practice and still was as far as I know (no communication was sent to the contrary). Is this legal??
 
Yes, it's legal. People all over the country have reported being terminated for what they do or say on social media.

You can be fired for any reason as long as it's not involving illegal discrimination and you don't have a bona fide employment contract or union contract.

So, if you're thinking lawsuit, forget it.

You may still be eligible for unemployment compensation so file ASAP so you don't lose any benefits.
 
But they hacked into my account. There were private messages. It was not on my wall. They did not have my permission to go into my account and read my personal communications. Did they also read my messages to my best friend in Cali or my messages to my boyfriend? There has to be recourse as this was too far. Logging in as me is fraud. I never provided a password
 
Seems to be an egregious breach of privacy. And the communications involved a singular person. Not the company as a whole.
 
Obx98 said:
Seems to be an egregious breach of privacy. And the communications involved a singular person. Not the company as a whole.
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Perhaps your PAL was also their RAT?????
 
I don't see anything illegal here & you did use company computer. You can be terminated at any time for any reason except for a reason prohibited by law (ie religion, race, gender......) or unless you have a binding employment contract to the contrary.

File for unemployment ins. (the state will decide if you qualify) & look for other employment.
 
Obx98 said:
But they hacked into my account. There were private messages. It was not on my wall. They did not have my permission to go into my account and read my personal communications. Did they also read my messages to my best friend in Cali or my messages to my boyfriend? There has to be recourse as this was too far. Logging in as me is fraud. I never provided a password
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From what you posted, this is a serious invasion of privacy! If your superior somehow accessed your account and read your personal messages, I would think that superior would be liable for invasion of your privacy! And if they used your private information to terminate you, that could be percieved as a Wrongful Termination because they fraudulently accessed your account! You should consult with an Attorney!
 
cbg said:
Their computer. Their internet. Their rules.
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Since when does accessing one's FB account (during break) to communicate with someone via their personal messages on a company computer allow the company free reign to tap into a person's personal messages? If the company DID access their former employee's personal account and messages, I'd think this is terribly wrong and would be a serious breach of one's privacy!

However, I respect your length of service as a moderator, CBG, so perhaps you know something that would help me understand why you believe a company has the right to do this!

Also, as Army Judge pointed out, the 'friend' could have been the 'rat'! :)
 
So you're suggesting that the company does not have the right to know what their employees are using their equipment for?
 
adjusterjack said:
It isn't.

You used the company computer for personal use. NOTHING is private when you do that.
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I may have jumped the gun when I made that statement as there may be a gray area in the OP's case.

Not the part about being fired, but the part where the employer hacked into the facebook page (if that's how the employer got the information).

Monitoring Company Computers And The Internet

Employee Privacy-What Can Employers Monitor?

One of the citations in those articles relates a bit to the OP's situation:

"In Pietrylo v. Hillstone Restaurant Group (New Jersey 2009), two employees set up a password protected MySpace account where employees could vent about working at the restaurant. A manger got a hold of the password and logged into the site to discover disparaging and sexual remarks about management and references to illegal drugs. The restaurant fired the employees who sued under the computer hacking laws. The court found for the employees because the restaurant's employee monitoring policy did not extent to private online communications on a social network outside of work."
 
And we know for certain that the employer somehow hacked into the page with or without a password?

Not that I can see, we don't.
 
Agree with cbg. Also, employees in case above may not have used employer equipment/computer.
 

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