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Should We Fire Him for That Post? – Case Solution

The "Should We Fire Him for That Post?" case study deals with social media etiquette in relation to work ethics. Kenton was considered one of the best salespeople in Downcity Motors. He disagreed with the company's strategy in launching a project. The problem was he published his disagreement on a Facebook post, which apparently maligned the company's image and against the company's policy. What recourse does the company have against Kenton and his post?

​Mary Anne Watson and Gabrielle R. Lopiano Harvard Business Review ( R1603X-PDF-ENG ) March 01, 2016

Case questions answered:

• Should Downcity Motors fire Kenton or not?
• What would you do in this situation?

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Should We Fire Him for That Post? Case Answers

Should we fire him for that post – case study.

This “Should We Fire Him for That Post?” case study deals with labor laws and social media etiquette in relation to work ethics.

Downcity Motors owns Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Range Rover dealerships in Charlotte, North Carolina. Kenton, one of Downcity’s employees and the best salesperson in the company has recently posted a controversial picture and comment on Facebook.

Kenton disagreed with the Sales Manager’s decision to serve BBQ and plastic ware during a Mercedes launch because it does not represent the luxury product the car dealership is selling.

Dell, the President of the company, and Susannah, the General Manager, believe that the post had a negative impact on the company’s image and reputation. Susannah has to decide whether to let Kenton go or retain him.

According to Toby Diller, Downcity Motors’ head of HR, Susannah has 3 options:

First , Susannah can ignore Kenton’s post because the photos he posted of the event were his own, and he was only expressing his opinion.

Second , Susannah may take disciplinary actions against him, which could involve a written warning added to his personnel file or suspend Kenton from work with or without pay.

Third , Susannah may consider firing Kenton.

Additionally, the HR manager thinks that firing him for that post would be completely legal because Kenton violated the employee handbook by being disrespectful of the company image, and this was his second offense.

Communication

I believe lack of communication is one of the most important issues Downcity is facing. As a General Manager, Susannah should know and understand all her employees and always keep an open line of communication with them.

Kenton is Downcity’s best salesperson but is also a professionally inexperienced individual. He joined Downcity Motors directly out of college. Therefore, his professional experience was built only with Downcity.

Having no previous work history, Kenton might not have been aware of any protocols or policies associated with posts on social media. His Facebook posts were a clear reaction to co-workers’ or clients’ actions and a way of expressing his frustration and consternation.

Susannah has not identified Kenton’s level of emotional intelligence, and she did not think that rejecting his proposal would create so much frustration.

It was clearly explained to Kenton that he should not post anything that reflects negatively on the organization or its customers. Yet, Kenton seemed to express a high negative affectivity [1] every time he thought the company’s well-being was at risk.

His previous posts showed his obvious frustration towards events that, in his opinion, could have damaged the organization and its sales.

Kenton is a very enthusiastic young individual. He loves his job, and he is very successful at generating sales. He showed great workplace courage when he expressed his opinion about the launching event to Tyson, the sales manager.

He also showed courage when he went to Susannah to lay out his vision on how the event should be organized and how Tyson’s plan did not align with the brand that Downcity Motors is representing.

According to James Deter, in his article entitled “Cultivating Everyday Courage, “employees whose workplace courage produces good results have often spent months or years establishing that they excel at their jobs, that they are invested in the organization, and that they’re evenhanded.” [2]

Kenton has proven his commitment to the company by becoming their most successful salesperson and by showing his concerns whenever he thinks the organization is at risk.  Deter also argues that “competently courageous people focus primarily on three things: (1) framing their issue in terms that the audience will relate to; (2) making effective use of data; and (3) managing the emotions in the room”. [2]

Kenton showed workspace courage. However, he could not control his emotions or use the information he had at hand to pitch his idea to Susannah and to provide clear data to support it.

This event had been of high interest to him, and he asked Tyson for details about it for weeks. As Kenton’s direct superior in Downcity Motors, Tyson must have…

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Watch CBS News

Yes, You Should Be Fired For That Facebook Post. (No Matter What the Feds Say Next Week)

By Suzanne Lucas

Updated on: January 26, 2011 / 3:30 PM EST / MoneyWatch

Right now the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is preparing to hear a case where an employee was fired after criticizing her boss on Facebook . (Jon Hyman has a round up of information on this union firing .) But, the NLRB deals largely (although not exclusively) with union employees, who are definitely not "at will" employees, but are under contract.

I still think you should be careful.

I hear the screeching about free speech right now. Well, yes, you have the right to free speech, but I also believe that companies should have the right to terminate people who use that speech to denigrate the company. Free speech, not free from consequences speech. (And remember, it's only government suppression of speech that is illegal.) Most employees in the United States are at will employees, which means that there is no contract of employment and either party can end it for any or no reason, as long as the reason isn't an illegal one. For instance, you can't fire an employee because she's pregnant, but you can fire a pregnant employee, as long as the pregnancy isn't the reason.

So, why am I in favor of companies being able to terminate an employee for online behavior? (These things, of course, aren't limited to Facebook. Myspace , Twitter , and blogs are all good candidates for firing). Here are 3 Reasons.

• Easy firing=easy hiring. I want companies to hire people. In fact, my fondest wish is that all my readers who are searching for jobs find one this year. The more restrictions government places on terminating employees, the more hesitant companies are to hire new people.
• Bad judgment isn't limited to online behavior. Companies need employees they can trust to make good decisions. If you lack the critical thinking skills to say, "Hmmm, if I post that my boss is a jerk, my boss just might find out about it," then you probably lack the critical thinking skills to do your job. Yes, people vent. But the internet is not private. And anyone who thinks they can trust all their 476 friends to keep something quiet isn't someone I want on my staff.
• Companies should be able to presume loyalty. I know, I know, your company doesn't care much about your career and they have no problem firing you, so why should you care about them? Because they pay you to care about them. In a pre-internet case where Delta airline employee was fired over a letter to the editor , "[t]he court in that case held that there '"is an implied duty of loyalty, with regard to public communications, that employees owe to their employers.' Stating that Mr. Marsh violated this implied duty of loyalty by publicly disparaging Delta, the court found that his termination was just." We forbid employees from giving information to the competitor, which would damage the company, so why not forbid employees from posting information that would hurt the company? The exception to this is when the company is engaging in illegal activity. Then employees should speak out and should be afforded whistleblower protection .
• There are things you don't want to know. Honestly and truly, there are things out there about your employees that you don't want to know. Even though you can legally fire people easily, few companies allow you to actually do that. And there are lots of unemployed lawyers who would be happy to take your employee's case.
• Some information cannot be considered. Yes, you know the gender, age, race, national origin and, frequently, religion and sexual orientation of your employees. But, you can't make decisions based on this information, so don't browse Facebook looking for it. Wonder if Jim is gay? What about that candidate? She looked Jewish. Hmmmm. Seriously, even though you wouldn't make a decision based on protected class information, doesn't mean you won't have to defend against it. If you don't know, your defense is much easier.
• Your employees are not your friends. I know, you're a great boss and everyone loves you, but remember they love you because you are paying them. Please keep those worlds separate. Don't try to "friend" your employees on Facebook, and don't follow their personal blogs. (If they write career based ones, that's a different story.) The Evil HR Lady Rule of Work Relationships is that when you are with people from the office you are at the office. Please don't turn Facebook into the office. (And for heaven's sake, don't friend one or two members of your staff, but not the rest. Gah.)
• One bad statement or questionable picture does not mean a person is a bad employee. We all make mistakes and things can be taken out of context as well. You cannot control it if your "friends" post pictures of you from 10 years ago. Don't punish your 30 year old employees for something they did at 18.

For Further Reading

• I'm Sabotaging My Employees Job Searches Through LinkedIn
• I Built a Network, Now How Do I Use It?
• Managers: Stop the Shuffling and Just Fire the Person
• Can You Fire Someone For Wearing the Wrong Tie?

View all articles by Suzanne Lucas on CBS MoneyWatch» Suzanne Lucas spent 10 years in corporate human resources, where she hired, fired, managed the numbers and double-checked with the lawyers. Connect with her at LinkedIn , read her blog or send her an email at [email protected] .

More from CBS News

Who really gets fired over social media posts? We studied hundreds of cases to find out

Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Monash University

Assistant researcher, Monash University

Disclosure statement

Brady Robards receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

Darren Graf does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Monash University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation AU.

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What you say and do on social media can affect your employment; it can prevent you from getting hired, stall career progression and may even get you fired. Is this fair – or an invasion of privacy?

Our recent research involved a study of 312 news articles about people who had been fired because of a social media post.

These included stories about posts people had made themselves, such as a teacher who was fired after they came out as bisexual on Instagram, or a retail employee let go over a racist post on Facebook.

It also included stories about posts made by others, such as videos of police engaging in racial profiling (which led to their dismissal).

Racism was the most common reason people were fired in these news stories, with 28% of stories related specifically to racism. Other forms of discriminatory behaviour were sometimes involved, such as queerphobia and misogyny (7%); workplace conflict (17%); offensive content such as “bad jokes” and insensitive posts (16%); acts of violence and abuse (8%); and “political content” (5%).

We also found these news stories focused on cases of people being fired from public-facing jobs with high levels of responsibility and scrutiny. These included police/law enforcement (20%), teachers (8%), media workers (8%), medical professionals (7%), and government workers (3%), as well as workers in service roles such as hospitality and retail (13%).

Social media is a double-edged sword. It can be used to hold people to account for discriminatory views, comments or actions. But our study also raised important questions about privacy, common HR practices and how employers use social media to make decisions about their staff.

Young people in particular are expected to navigate social media use (documenting their lives, hanging out with friends, and engaging in self-expression) with the threat of future reputational harm looming.

Read more: Doxxing, swatting and the new trends in online harassment

Are all online posts fair game?

Many believe people just need to accept the reality that what you say and do on social media can be used against you.

And that one should only post content they wouldn’t mind their boss (or potential boss) seeing .

But to what extent should employers and recruiting managers respect the privacy of employees, and not use personal social media to make employment decisions?

Or is everything “fair game” in making hiring and firing decisions?

On the one hand, the capacity for using social media to hold certain people (like police and politicians) to account for what they say and do can be immensely valuable to democracy and society.

Powerful social movements such as #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter used social media to call out structural social problems and individual bad actors.

On the other hand, when everyday people lose their jobs ( or don’t get hired in the first place ) because they’re LGBTQ+, post a photo of themselves in a bikini, or because they complain about customers in private spaces (all stories from our study ), the boundary between professional and private lives is blurred .

Mobile phones, emails, working from home, highly competitive employment markets, and the intertwining of “work” with “identity” all serve to blur this line.

Some workers must develop their own strategies and tactics , such as not friending or following workmates on some social media (which itself can lead to tensions).

And even when one does derive joy and fulfilment from work, we should expect to have some boundaries respected.

Employers, HR workers, and managers should think carefully about the boundaries between professional and personal lives; using social media in employment decisions can be more complicated than it seems.

A ‘hidden curriculum of surveillance’

When people feel monitored by employers (current, or imagined future ones) when they use social media, this creates a “ hidden curriculum of surveillance ”. For young people especially, this can be damaging and inhibiting.

This hidden curriculum of surveillance works to produce compliant, self-governing citizen-employees. They are pushed to curate often highly sterile representations of their lives on social media, always under threat of employment doom.

At the same time, these very same social media have a clear and productive role in revealing violations of power. Bad behaviour, misconduct, racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of bigotry, harassment, and violence have all been exposed by social media.

So, then, this surveillance can be both bad and good – invasive in some cases and for some people (especially young people whose digitally-mediated lives are managed through this prism of future impact) but also liberating and enabling justice, accountability, and transparency in other scenarios and for other actors.

Social media can be an effective way for people to find work , for employers to find employees , to present professional profiles on sites like LinkedIn or portfolios of work on platforms like Instagram, but these can also be personal spaces even when they’re not set to private.

How we get the balance right between using social media to hold people to account versus the risk of invading people’s privacy depends on the context, of course, and is ultimately about power.

Read more: As use of digital platforms surges, we'll need stronger global efforts to protect human rights online

• Social media
• Online harassment
• Invasion of privacy
• Employee rights
• Online harm
• Right to privacy

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The Impact of Social Media on Employment: Should He Be Fired for

• Communications

Case Study: Should He Be Fired for That Facebook Post? OR Should We Fire Him for That Post?

Executive summary of the case.

Downcity Motors owns the dealership of BMW, Range Rover, and Mercedes-Benz at Charlotte.  The company has sustained successful dealership operations in Charlotte. Susannah Winslow, daughter of dell, is a general manager of the company. She is quite worried about the employee policy. Treating employees in a good manner is always the main priority of dell, president of Downcity. However, recently, James Kenton, producer at the Downcity motor, has used social media channels to share his perception of the recent Mercedes launch. “Nothing says luxury like plastic tablecloths and soda pop.” He posted this statement on his Facebook account. It seems disrespectful to the company. Accordingly, to Susannah Winslow, this statement by the employee on the Facebook has impaired the company’s reputation.  Instead of giving a free hand to employees, Susannah Winslow thinks there should be a right employee policy to control and monitor the online employee presence. However, Kenton was warned by the company officials earlier due to his controversial posts. Now, Susannah Winslow thinks firing Kenton is in the best interest of the Downcity motor. Interestingly, several options have been discussed with key stakeholders of the company. Maybe, firing Kenton is not a solution, as he might post on the Facebook consistently.  Also, immediate termination may cause some legal complications. Thus, the company management is looking shape the employee force that can contribute to the success of the company in an effective and lucrative manner. However, when dealing with this new generation, the management has to tolerate many things. Kenton is the biggest producer of the company, and an immediate termination can cause a big loss (Watson & Lopiano, 2016).

Business Problem of the Case

The business problem of the case is an ineffective social media policy to control or monitor employees. Kenton is a prominent producer at the Downcity dealership, and he is posting some controversial statements about the company. He is sharing his views and perceptions about the company. When sharing the personal experience, the employee must have to be loyal to the company. In Downcity, Kenton, due to lack of social media policy, is consistently posting that goes against the company’s reputation.  It has been revealed that Kenton did not use the social media channels in the office. The employee has a right to share his opinion and thoughts about work experience or any other activity in the company (Watson & Lopiano, 2016). Though, the employee has to make the difference between right and wrong regarding the company’s image. If the company starts firing an employee, based on this issue, the operational sustainability can be at high risk. Susannah Winslow is thinking about the company, and obviously, firing Kenton can stop controversial statements. On the other hand, anyone in the company may also start using social media against the company. Thus, the major issue is the employee control policy on the social media channel. The firm management has not come up with the clear social media policy for employees. An employee can easily post on Facebook, and fascinatingly, it can hit loyal customers of the company. When selling luxury cars, image and reputation are two important factors, and through controlling employees on social media, the sustainability can be attained. Downcity may struggle regarding its sales due to the perception, created by the employee on the social media channel. It has to be treated immediately with some key strategic considerations. Downcity motor believes in the employee retention, and accordingly, the pertinent solution should be made (Reitz, Berkowitz, & Rudolph, 2015).

Case Solution

The best solution for the Downcity motors is to create the social media policy for employees.  The social media manager can be appointed in the company to monitor and control the employee presence on different social media channels. Downcity Motor’s presence on the social media should be good to attract customers and boost the competitive positioning. Thus, directing employee what is good for the company is a good initiative.  It is the best alternative to firing employees over controversial Facebook posts.  A national labor relations act protects employees from the sudden terminations (Reitz, Berkowitz, & Rudolph, 2015). Thus, instead of firing, making and strengthening the social media policy is a good option for the management. Susannah Winslow, when meeting different stakeholders of the company, has observed that there is not the policy for employees to represent the company on the different platforms. The social, media manager will be responsible for the official page of the company on Facebook, and the company employees will have to post on this page only. On the official page of the Downcity motor, employees can share their thoughts, views, and experiences. The social media manager will review these posts according to the company’s new social media policy (Burgess & Burgess, 2013).  The policy protects the company’s image from negative and disrespectful messages. The new social media policy can also be shared with all employees, including Kenton. It is a perfect solution, as it can enable the business sustainability and employee retention as well. Employees have a right to come up with criticisms. Conversely, it is a responsibility of the company management to make employee criticize respectfully.  The media context is changing, and employees should be careful when going online and speaking about the company. Social media policy and management can get things done well. Downcity Company has to push this strategy to the bottom line to derive some expected results (Burgess & Burgess, 2013).

Burgess, C., & Burgess, M. (2013). The Social Employee: How Great Companies Make Social Media Work. McGraw Hill Professional.

Reitz, A. E., Berkowitz, P. M., & Rudolph, J. (2015). Social Media and Employment Law: An International Survey. Kluwer Law International.

Watson, M. A., & Lopiano, G. R. (2016). Case Study: Should He Be Fired for That Facebook Post? Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/03/case-study-should-he-be-fired-for-that-facebook-post

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• Organizational Behavior
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