Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Yo,Boss! MySpace ain't your space!
If I want to talk smack about my boss or workplace on a supposedly private password protected area of a website on my own pc in my own house, I think that I have that right without fear of legal repercussion. Now, if I am doing something illegal, that's different. There are certain instances where material is protected by copyright or contract but that still does not give employers the right to invade one's privacy at home. The manager at the Houston's restaurant in New Jersey where the 2 employees were fired for dissin' the boss was way out of line by using someone else's (an ass kisser no doubt) password to gain access to the private MySpace page. Isn't that some sort of illegal act? That's like my boss walking in my yard, looking thru my window, and seeing me doing, watching, or reading something he doesn't agree with, and then firing me over it. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in court. Trespassing is defined as unlawful entry onto one's real property. Invasion of privacy is defined as intruding into the personal life of another. Is your MySpace page real property? Is it your personal life (assuming you have a private MySpace page)? What are we going to do when someone invents a mind reader app or contraption? Dogs and cats are mind readers, but don't speak human which is probably a good thing! Could you imagine if everyone's thoughts were just flying around like radio waves? We would all go nuts from the noise. Well, I kinda slipped off the rail there, so I reckon I'll stop now.
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It will be interesting to see how this one plays out. I think both sides were wrong.
ReplyDeleteOne news article says the women used the group to warn coworkers about a surprise inspection. Assuming the women were in a position where they had legitimate advance knowledge, and their job included keeping that information to themselves, they violated the terms of their employment and should be let go.
If any part of the termination can be traced back to just what the women griped about the job (like if the employer was stupid enough to say "You called me trash...I'm calling you unemployed.." then the employer should be penalized.
The women weren't to bright. There have been stories for years about employers looking at social networks for hints of an employee or applicant's ethics. And almost office on the planet is going to have at least one person willing to rat out their coworkers to get ahead.