Can Personal Comments Get You Fired?
I spent the weekend thinking about a posting that John Wagner wrote on Friday.
It discussed former Miami Heat Tim Hardaway’s comments on a radio show last week. His comments about gay people were hateful, insensitive and plain wrong.
In the case of Mr. Hardaway, the NBA stripped him of his duties for the weekend’s All Star Game in
Las Vegas as a result of his comments.
Putting aside the particulars, the controversy raises for me a larger and thornier issue that all of us as communications professionals and web 2.0 advocates must address: Can or should employees be fired or disciplined for discussing non-company related topics on personal blogs -- topics that would result in a dismissal if they were made in the workplace, at a company event or on behalf of the company?
I am an advocate of free speech and greater openness and candor in the age of Web 2.0. I don’t want to be member of the thought police, but where do we draw the line? How open or closed minded should we be?
Clearly, there are cases where employees whose contract or terms of employment may restrict what is said. There are others who by the nature of their job are in the public eye, and any negative publicity -- no matter how personal -- makes certain topics too controversial and therefore inappropriate and unacceptable. But what about employees who traditionally fall outside these categories?
My reluctant answer is that employees have the right to exercise free speech on a blog as long as the comments don't relate to the company he or she works for. Employees forfeit that right if they do and violate established policies for employment or codes of conduct.
But there are exceptions. Certain comments are too egregious to be ignored. Disciplinary action can’t be taken simply because we disagree with the comments. I think punishment and dismissal may be appropriate if the comments prove to have a materially negative effect on the company or its reputation. Of course, demonstrating a material impact may prove difficult, which is why companies need policies that govern acceptable and non-acceptable behavior.
Ultimately, blogging gives us a tremendous opportunity to create whole new channels of communications. We can connect inexpensively and easily -- building bridges, exchanging ideas, and fostering business and personal relationships. Ironically, the same platform that can help spread ideas can get us into deep trouble.
It is a powerful medium, and we must be prepared for comments that we don’t like or agree with. Certainly what we say in our homes or even at a bar is very different than what we say on the Internet. The Internet, by its nature, has the ability to amplify and magnify. We can’t pretend that these forums operate by the same principles. Once more, comments we make can also be recorded by others and posted online without our permission or approval – making it even more important to be careful what we say and where we say it.
Like anything else, this very powerful medium can be abused. We have the freedom to say what we want, but we also must recognize that there are consequences for how we use that freedom. As I have long maintained, having the ability to say anything you want doesn’t make it acceptable to actually say it.
Let me get back to you.
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