Rob Lammle
How to Tweet Your Way Out of a Job
by Rob Lammle - May 17, 2010 - 4:25 PM

Hate your job? Want to leave without giving two weeks notice? Thanks to Twitter, it’s never been easier to get fired. All you have to do is sign up for an account and follow these simple steps. You’ll be unemployed in no time!

Step 1: Drunk Tweet


As any Spring Break partier knows, drinking impairs your judgment. It seems to have also impaired the judgment of Major League pitcher-turned-sports-radio-host Mike Bacsik, who put on quite a show during a San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks NBA game in April. While watching the game, Bacsik bragged that he was “About 12 deep and some shots.” He proceeded to unleash a string of insults aimed at NBA commissioner David Stern, accused the refs of fixing the game, and even threatened to blow up the NBA’s offices. But the one that really got people riled up came after the Mavericks lost the game, when Bacsik tweeted:

@MikeBacsik: “Congrats to all the dirty mexicans in San Antonio.”

After sobering up, Bacsik deleted the offending tweets and issued an apology. But it was too little, too late. Numerous people complained to his radio station, which first suspended Bacsik and later fired him. After his dismissal, he told ESPN Dallas, “When you tweet like that, it’s not a playful, harmless thing…I’m very sorry and will try my best for my actions to speak louder than my tweets.”

Step 2: Break the Law (or Just Anger Your Governor)

Twitter has become a great tool for politicians to connect to the voting public. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, for one, has really embraced the technology as a way to share his opinions and views. For example, in December 2009, he sent out a tweet saying:

@HaleyBarbour: “Glad the Legislature recognizes our dire fiscal situation. Look forward to hearing their ideas on how to trim expenses.”

Jennifer Carter, one of his Twitter followers who worked for the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMC), read this message and offered up a suggestion on how Governor Barbour could personally save the taxpayers money:

“Schedule regular medical exams like everyone else instead of paying UMC employees overtime to do it when clinics are usually closed.”

This “Oh, snap!” moment referred to an incident that had occurred three years earlier, when the governor requested the medical center open on a Saturday, when they were normally closed, and bring in a staff of 15-20 people who were paid overtime to administer his annual check-up. This happened before Carter worked for UMC and she was simply repeating what she had been told by other employees.

The governor’s office tracked down Carter and made a formal complaint to UMC, saying Carter had violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a privacy law that states no employee of a medical facility can reveal any information about a person’s “protected health information.” Some argued that Carter didn’t violate HIPAA, since she didn’t actually give out any information about the health of the governor. However, others believe that simply saying the governor had even visited a doctor is a violation.

Semantics aside, UMC administrators said it was a violation, so they suspended Carter for three days without pay and strongly suggested she resign to avoid further disciplinary action, which she did.

Step 3: Have an NSFW Lifestyle

St. Louis-based blogger “The Beautiful Kind” had been writing online about her polyamorous sex life for years. Knowing that not everyone would agree with her chosen lifestyle, she was always very careful about maintaining her anonymity, especially when it came to the workplace. So when she signed up for Twitter, she wanted to be anonymous there as well. She thought that, thanks to the similarities between the two, it was like signing up for an online message board – you supplied your real name to the website privately, but could choose to be known publicly by your username only. But when she logged in for the first time and saw that, not only did it show her username (@TBK365), but also her real name on her profile, she immediately went back and removed it.

Thinking she was now safely anonymous, she used Twitter to promote her blog and to discuss sexually explicit topics with her followers. However, when her boss at the non-profit group where she worked was told by upper management to do a Google search of all employees, TBK’s Twitter account information—with her real name still associated—came up on the Twitter tracking site topsy.com.

The next day, TBK was called into her boss’ office and fired on the spot. Afterwards, her former boss sent her a letter saying, “While I know you are a good worker and an intelligent person, I hope you try to understand that our employees are held to a different standard. When it comes to private matters, such as one’s sexual explorations and preferences, our employees must keep their affairs private.” Because Missouri is an at-will employment state, meaning employers can fire someone for just about any reason, TBK was SOL.

Step 4: Question Company Policy

When California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) traded in their standard white shirts for black ones, employee Tim Chantarangsu wasn’t happy with the change. So he tweeted @calpizzakitchen his opinion:

@traphik: “black button ups are the lamest s**t ever!!!”

He didn’t expect anyone to notice or care, but the next day he received a direct message from corporate asking what restaurant he worked for. He knew better than to respond, but they tracked him down anyway and he was fired. They not only referenced his tweet about the shirts, but also an earlier one where he had said he was getting ready to work at “Calipornia Skeetza Kitchen.”

Little did they know that Chantarangsu is kind of a big deal on another social website, YouTube. Under the name TimothyDeLaGhetto2, Chantarangsu has nearly 367,000 subscribers, accounting for over 10,500,000 views of his videos. Of course he made a YouTube video telling his Twitter story and it has currently been viewed nearly 200,000 times. Shortly after the incident, he asked his followers to bombard CPK’s Twitter account with RTs (re-tweets) of his offending message, which they were more than happy to oblige.

Step 5: Make a Celebrity Look Bad


During his five years on the job, Jon Barrett-Ingels had served a lot of celebrities as a waiter at Barney Greengrass, an upscale restaurant in Beverly Hills. One day, Jane Adams, star of the HBO series Hung, came in and had lunch to the tune of $13.44. Unfortunately, when the bill came, Adams realized she had left her wallet in the car. Ingels knew who she was, so he told her she could run out and grab it and come back. The actress left, but didn’t return. Instead, someone from her agency called the next day and paid the bill. However, they didn’t leave a tip. Ingels had recently signed up for Twitter and so, his sixth tweet to his 40 followers said:

@PapaBarrett: Jane Adams, star of HBO series “Hung” skipped out on a $13.44 check. Her agent called and payed the following day. NO TIP!!!”

Over the next few weeks, Ingels started using Twitter to send out a few harmless observations about celebrities that came in to eat—mainly what they ordered or what they looked like that day. Then, out of the blue, Jane Adams came back to the restaurant. According to Ingels’ blog, she was clearly upset and begrudgingly slapped $3 on the bar for Ingels as a tip. Surprised, Ingels told the actress she really didn’t have to do that, but her gesture was appreciated. She allegedly replied with, “My friend read about it on Twitter!” before storming off. Adams complained about the tweet to management, so someone from Barney’s corporate started following Ingels on Twitter to see what he was up to. After reading his celebrity tweets, it didn’t take long before they gave him the boot.

Step 6: Don’t Get Hired in the First Place

If you’ve followed steps 1 – 5 and you still have a job, here’s the ultimate way to make sure Twitter will keep you from gainful employment.

When recent college grad Skye Riley heard back from Cisco, the computer networking giant, about her job application, one of her first instincts was to tweet about it. Unfortunately, this is what she tweeted:

@theconnor: Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.

The unfortunate part? An employee of Cisco, Tim Levad, came across her post while doing a Twitter search for Cisco. He replied to her by saying:

@timmylevad: Who is the hiring manager. I’m sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web.

Riley’s story was the tweet heard round the world. It became a hot topic on tech blogs for weeks afterwards, with writers calling it the “Cisco Fatty” incident. She later claimed that the tweet was taken out of context—that part of her message was referring to a well-paid internship she had turned down—but it appears the damage had already been done. While only she and Cisco know what really happened, according to her online resume, she has never worked for the company.
* * * * *
Do you know any other Twitter horror stories? Are any of your co-workers walking a dangerous line by ripping your employer or boss on Facebook or a personal blog? Give us the details in the comments below.

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Comments (59)

  1. This is why I love having a common last name – Dalek

    posted by Dalek Empress on 5-17-2010 at 4:54 pm

  2. Step 1: Have twitter.
    Step 2: Use twitter.

    posted by bakedpotatoes on 5-17-2010 at 5:02 pm

  3. I think Twitter is one of the most ennoying things on the Web. I don’t subscribe and I wish I didn’t have to hear about it.

    posted by sm on 5-17-2010 at 5:57 pm

  4. This is why my Facebook profile is boring. I’ve taken away pictures where I wear a low cut shirt, anything with a beer in my hand, cussing, and political stuff. I’m glad I did, too. When I got hired the guys who saw my resume said they looked me up on Facebook.

    posted by Kelsey on 5-17-2010 at 5:58 pm

  5. I follow TBK and I’m starting really wonder about this whole thing. She had only worked there for a month. You can be fired for anything within a 3 month probabtionary period–what they did was totally legal and they didn’t even need a reason.

    I also asked her if she had signed any kind of personal behaviour clause when she started working there since this organization is so concerned about the image its employess project, and she refused to answer. And not a single article has gone to this employer to seek a statement from THEM. Don’t you find that a little odd?? I DO. I want to know their side of this story.

    I put my real name in my profile on twitter when I first signed up (according to her story I did this around the same time she did), and it doesn’t show up on topsy (or google). She googled her own name a week before, she says, and got no hits.

    Something doesn’t seem logical to me about this whole thing. Except the publicity she’s milking from it.

    I could see if she’d been there past the 3 month probationary period, but otherwise come on…someone needs to get a statement from that employer. Otherwise I just don’t buy this.

    posted by jane on 5-17-2010 at 5:58 pm

  6. oops. can’t spell. annoying.

    posted by sm on 5-17-2010 at 6:03 pm

  7. One thing to remember online is that just because your privacy is set to “friends only” doesn’t mean that it’s totally private…your “friends” may not be so friendly, and there is nothing barring them from showing your posts, pictures, etc to anyone else. One time my boss (who I am *not* FB friends with) confronted me about something I had said on FB about a work event that I had attended. Turns out he had pressured a coworker into showing him my FB profile/updates. Nothing I had said would get me fired or mentioned my company (and I had said all of it in public as well), but it just goes to show you that you can never be too careful!

    posted by AG on 5-17-2010 at 6:08 pm

  8. Mike Bacsik was not only a horrible pitcher, but a real grade-A jerk, too. He’s just a loudmouth who thinks being an opinionated boor makes him entertaining and edgy.

    And once again, he was a dreadfully bad pitcher too.

    posted by Billy Baloney on 5-17-2010 at 6:21 pm

  9. I don’t use twitter and I think it’s really boring

    posted by GH on 5-17-2010 at 6:56 pm

  10. These stories are fascinating. These are some of the ultimate foot-in-mouth moments, though I think calling out some of these corrupt politicians like that healthcare example was completely justified. I just think that a lot of corporate folks are out of touch with what’s really going on online though. They’re so concerned about employees maintaining this pristine image when its really impossible to do so online anymore because of http://www.dirtyphonebook.com and other sites that publish personal secrets about others with no implied consent. I think some of these hiring managers and corporate mouth-breathers need a lesson in real reality because firing somebody over these incidents is tragic to me. Maybe because I’m younger and grew up with the internet its easier for me to adjust to this, I guess.

    posted by Sam on 5-17-2010 at 8:05 pm

  11. Here in Australia we have just had a journalist fired over tweets sent during our Logie Awards (Emmys).

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/05/2890618.htm

    Also, others at the ceremony were in trouble for similar:

    http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/television/tv-twit-wil-andersen-takes-pot-shot-at-logie-stars-on-twitter/story-e6frfmyi-1225861803285

    posted by Nerddette on 5-17-2010 at 9:09 pm

  12. Stuff like this is a big reason why I don’t use Twitter or Facebook. When you Google my real name, most of the hits you’ll get aren’t me but someone else and I want it to stay that way!

    posted by dooflotchie on 5-18-2010 at 1:16 am

  13. This is why one should ONLY use a pseudonym when playing around online. My LinkedIn account is the ONLY account I’ve got that’s got my legal name on it.

    posted by misskitty_79 on 5-18-2010 at 1:42 am

  14. @ Hi my name is John Smith and I hate my job and my co-workers and my boss! They pay me a ridiculous amount of cash for sitting on my ass all day commenting on mentalfloss.com

    posted by John Smith on 5-18-2010 at 3:11 am

  15. We had to let an employee go this weekend because he didn’t like to work. He promptly went on a social networking site and blasted how much he hated the job and boss and that he did not need the money because he had another job that paid him under the table. Dummy did not realize that we are friends and I promptly photographed the evidence in case he tries to get unemployment.

    posted by beffie on 5-18-2010 at 8:09 am

  16. The pizza kitchen story should remind employers that they can’t control what an employee does AFTER they fire one.

    And I would like to know what states are NOT “right-to-work” states. In every state I’ve ever lived in, an employer can fire you for any reason whatsoever. Like, if they want to hire a relative in your place. Or they don’t like your looks.

    posted by Miss Cellania on 5-18-2010 at 8:44 am

  17. What a sad state of affairs when nobody can just vent about whatever they want to vent about, public or not. Are any of these twits really reasons to get fired over?

    posted by Mike H on 5-18-2010 at 9:37 am

  18. This is why i really do not post too frequently or specifically about people and NEVER about work. The only person i follow on twitter is Laurell K Hamilton so i do not miss a book sogning or something like that, and even then i only check it about once a month or so.
    I do not like the fact that a person can be fired for what they do outside of work, especially if they do not post things about said work, that is just beyond the fire-at-will in my opinion.

    posted by jennifer on 5-18-2010 at 9:53 am

  19. Speaking of Twitter horror stories, have you heard of what happened to @pauljchambers? His rigors can be read here:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/may/11/tweet-joke-criminal-record-airport

    posted by Fryphile on 5-18-2010 at 9:58 am

  20. That last one is especially stupid. Don’t use the company name, obv!

    posted by Ronnica on 5-18-2010 at 11:47 am

  21. The guideline I use for my own online comments and activities is that if I wouldn’t want it on the front page of the paper or on a billboard at the busy intersection in front of my workplace, it’s probably not something I should post. If you treat everything you post as if everyone in the whole world can and will see it, you won’t have to worry about embarrassing yourself. If I wouldn’t want to explain something I post to a potential or current employer or my little brother or my grandma or my mother-in-law, I just don’t post it. I feel bad for people that get in trouble for things that other people have posted or photos other people have tagged them in and that kind of thing,but I have no sympathy for folks that get in trouble for things they put on the internet themselves.

    posted by Melissa on 5-18-2010 at 11:49 am

  22. So basically, don’t ever express your opinions online, otherwise you run the risk of being fired. Ridiculous! Are we allowed to even make comments on mentalfloss anymore? Heaven forbid we say something incriminating.

    posted by Laura on 5-18-2010 at 12:25 pm

  23. Anything and everything put out over the net is never ‘privite’. The US goverment has a restriction on crypto software – it can be sold, as long as we get the key.

    Electronic privacy is a myth.

    posted by 'Da guy on 5-18-2010 at 2:08 pm

  24. @ Melissa, good point. Twitter and FB *are* basically taking out a billboard. The main differences are the web versions are fast and free. You don’t have the filters of time and money to think about what you’re about to broadcast to anyone and everyone with internet access.

    Venting on Twitter isn’t the same as commiserating with buds over drinks or over the phone with your BFF. You cannot control who sees it. No one is saying you can’t vent. Just be *smart* about when, where, and to whom. If you wouldn’t say it to the face of your company’s CEO, then you shouldn’t be tweeting or posting it to your wall. It’s common sense.

    Why wouldn’t an employer prefer to hire an employee who’s happy and enthusiastic about working there over a chronic complainer who just grinding it out for the paycheck? Or at the very least, doesn’t have the common sense not to post their rants publicly? It’s not all on the employer. *Your* attitude will make or break your career. You’re not being clever and snarky. You’re just being unemployable.

    posted by Michelle on 5-18-2010 at 3:51 pm

  25. Fryphile:

    The story of Paul Chambers was #7 on my list. I didn’t include him because I had to make some cuts somewhere. There are a few more that didn’t quite make the cut – mostly professional athletes – but thanks for pointing out his story to others. His is definitely an “honorable mention” (or would that be “dishonorable mention”?).

    posted by SpaceMonkeyX on 5-19-2010 at 10:07 am

  26. @Michelle
    You’re being way to harsh. There’s a big difference between being actually honest enough to admit you hate a job publicly, and “chronic complainer.” There’s a big difference between that and being unemployable. I’m just getting tired of superficial people like you who seem to view not being happy as something to be punished for.

    posted by mbelrose on 5-19-2010 at 3:17 pm

  27. I gotta say, I wouldn’t think saying that I don’t like black shirts to the big boss would be bad, so I would not think twice about tweeting it. Getting fired for it? Absolutely ridiculous. And the un-tipped server should have had the company’s support, not their condemnation. That’s why mom and pop restaurants are better than corporate ones.

    posted by acepgh on 5-19-2010 at 10:16 pm

  28. Here’s a recent example. At the Australian TV awards (called “the Logies”), one of the guests was Bindi Irwin, the 11 year-old daughter of the late Croc Hunter Steve Irwin. A columnist from a major newspaper tweeted “I hope Bindi gets laid” or words to that effect. The columnist was fired the next day.

    posted by Nick on 5-21-2010 at 12:22 am

  29. I always thought Twitter was stupid. And now I have proof. I call it the “I am wiping my ass and blowing my nose now” site. The only thing it is logically good for is my friend posting daily specials for his restaurant.

    posted by Kerwin on 5-21-2010 at 5:01 am

  30. @mbelrose

    I’m not trying to be superficial. On the contrary, I’m making a distinction that I think some commenters are missing. The point isn’t that you can’t vent, b*tch, cry, and generally feel like your life sucks. We’re all free to do that. The point is, if I make my complaints in a public forum and it happens to be about my job, then my actions might have undesirable consequences.

    Choices: Employers have a choice about whom to hire. Employees have a choice about where they work. If I hate my job so much, then I need to do something about it rather than anonymously (which is rather cowardly) ranting publicly about it and then playing the victim when I’m called on it. Change the circumstances or change my attitude. The third choice is to be perpetually miserable, but I’d rather not.

    Actions and consequences. Public vs. private. I’m not saying you never get to have a bad day. I’m not saying your friends shouldn’t hear about it when you do so they can support you. I’m saying that if you put it out there in a public forum (and everything on the internet is in the public domain; everything from hackers to someone reading over your shoulder makes password protection a false security), then you get to suffer the consequences of your actions. Right or wrong, that’s the reality of the situation.

    With two equally qualified candidates vying for a job, yeah it can come down to your attitude. Your attitude can make you unemployable, especially if it’s caused you to be fired a lot. Publicly criticizing a company you currently work for or just got a job offer from *does* indicate a type of personality and employers may, rightly or wrongly, assume that it’s the kind that will make the workplace unpleasant for everyone else.

    If you choose to be a navel-gazing, negative Nancy, okay by me. If you choose to play the victim in your own life, that’s cool, too. If you want to tweet about it until your fingers bleed, I have no problem with that. But it’s silly to blame an employer for thinking you might not have a sense of appropriate public behavior (as opposed to a long, healthy *private* b*tch and moan session) when your own social filters aren’t working properly. If you work for a corporation, you represent their brand. If they think you’re not a good representative, then it’s their right to fire you. If this is too much pressure or seems unfair, find another job. Again, right or wrong, that’s just reality. We don’t get to have things 100% the way we want them 100% of the time.

    Compromise is often required: keep your complaints *private* and you get to keep your job. Your public face is that it’s a good job, even if you’re secretly interviewing/applying at other companies and your friends are sick to death of listening to you complain. With few exceptions like corporate whistleblowers, nothing is gained from *publicly* badmouthing the company you work for, especially if you’re not directing those comments to people who could effect a change in that company. And you stand to lose a lot, like your job. If you want to begin a grassroots movement for corporate change, you’re going to need something better than “my shirt is now black and I hate it.”

    The CPK-black shirt issue was, imo, an overreaction on corporate’s part if that’s the only reason they fired him. Maybe it would have gone over better if he had said it to the CEO’s face, expressing his opinion to people who could do something about it, rather than just pointlessly venting. Who knows.

    Also, we only have his side of the tale, where’s he’s somewhat blameless in all of this. The possibility exists that he wasn’t a very good waiter or his, here’s that word again, attitude was so poor that they didn’t want him around anymore. I’ve had some truly awful service at CPK so this is a possibility. The tweets might have just been the last nail in the coffin or his “it’s not my fault” excuse for why he was fired.

    Hiring and training people costs money and time, so firing isn’t usually the first move corporations make. These events rarely occur in a vacuum (the polyamorous tweeter notwithstanding). There’s often a series of events that add up over time. For example, I’m wondering what made AG’s boss curious about what he posted on FB and if he checked up on all employees’ FB pages or just his. If your cumulative behavior at work draws the bad kind of attention, you probably need to be even more careful. (Sorry if you’re not a “he”, AG.)

    Kerwin hit the bullseye: Twitter is an incredible marketing tool for businesses, especially small ones that can’t afford a big advertising budget.

    posted by Michelle on 5-21-2010 at 6:52 pm

  31. I have a very common name, so common that I’m unGoogleable. The flip side to that is needing to create unique email addresses, logins, and avatars. So while you can’t find me, searching by my most common avatar reveals my life story. Even though tweets and facebook are private, googling that avatar forever ties me to twitter, comments on amazon, and 5-year-old rants on Jobschmob.com. Now that I’m in the job market, my number one goal is to keep prospective employers from tying me to that avatar.

    The funny side to this is that I work in Online Marketing. My entire department is on facebook, Twitter, and every other social media outlet. So the nature of my work actually holds me accountable – so I DON’T say anything I wouldn’t want my whole department to know. Thankfully my work has given me the wisdom that even if a prospective employer googles my avatar, there won’t be anything bad. I’ve (almost) never slammed my boss, company, or otherwise. What sucks is that I am forever tied to some rants on jobschmob.com. They were cool enough to delete my comments, so no one can see what I said, but any prospective employer who figures out my avatar will know I was there.

    People don’t realize that there is no Undo for the Internet. It’s a permanent record. So if you want a a new job, or to keep the current one, fight fire with fire. Tweet and do FB as if your current and prospective bosses were in the room. Then, actually have the guts to give links to all of them in your resume – prove you have nothing to hide.

    posted by Paco on 5-23-2010 at 2:52 pm

  32. “an NSWF”

    Who actually says “enn ess eff double you”? Because that’s the only reason someone would us “an” instead of “a” there.

    posted by Scoobily Doo on 5-24-2010 at 9:04 pm

  33. These are all excellent stories. Great comments too.
    As someone who is often placed biases upon by employers due to my visual impairment, I use Twitter as an outlet to show them that I’m just like any other normal human being. For me, this creates a conflict of when you use Twitter to proove that you and the other sighted competotors of your workplace are equal in what they do.
    I think part of this issue and these stories is that people often times don’t have an open mind. I’ve never been in a position to be a boss, but you (as an employee) should understand that your boss doesn’t have an easy time keeping public relations and the workplace organized.
    I grew up with the Internet too-in fact, I’m only 18 right now. It is true, as stated by a commenter, that the line between being able to “hide” a company’s honesty and integrity is really blurring.
    No, I don’t have a current job. But having an open mind is so much a key to “putting yourself” in the shoes of others.

    -Tomi

    posted by Tomi on 5-24-2010 at 11:53 pm

  34. Wow, I guess you really do need to watch what you say to the world.

    posted by Medisoft on 5-28-2010 at 3:08 pm

  35. I tweeted about this article.

    posted by Cheesy on 6-12-2010 at 8:03 am

  36. There is nothing that I’ve put on my fb page that I would be ashamed to tell anyone about, ever. Other peoples’ comments, however, may be a different story.

    I’m VitaminD, and I approved this message.

    posted by VitaminD on 6-14-2010 at 4:01 am

  37. And Miss Adams shouldn’t have stiffed on the check in the first place…how hard is it to get your wallet and come back to pay the bill?

    posted by mis on 6-14-2010 at 4:29 pm

  38. I’m very careful using my real name on things. It does also help that my name is more common then I’ve realized. I easily get over 2,000 hits when I look up name on google.. and none of them are me. I only get 1 when I look up my full name and it’s to an alumni list for my highschool. Completely different story if you search my usual choice of screen name, lol (which is NOT Dazee btw.. not completely). I’m also really careful about what I link to on my facebook. I’ve dropped a bunch of things, removed associations to my work place and make sure to be vague when complaining about my place of business. I also refuse to have twitter.. at least for now. I also refused to have myspace and facebook, there’s only so many invites I’ll refuse before I cave.

    posted by Dazee on 7-8-2010 at 9:05 pm

  39. The University Of Pittsburgh Medical Center allows its staff to use Facebook while at work (on smart phones)and most can be found describing patients in their care to a T. However unless you are black or a homosexual, UPMC will not reprimand you. They turn a blind eye unless you are a minority, even the NAACP and ACLU are fired up over the discrimination. West Deer EMS also allows their employees to slander people online with no repercussions. But I know the ACLU has filed suit against them as they have been publicly quoted that they will not hire African Americans or Homosexuals.

    posted by Mark Davis on 7-21-2010 at 7:54 pm

  40. Make that slander and libel. My bad. I’m kinda high right now, just had surgery.

    posted by Mark Davis on 7-21-2010 at 7:57 pm

  41. This is why I always use alternate names, never my real one. Even though my Facebook page is about as clean-cut as they come, you can’t find it unless you know me really well.

    posted by Penny on 7-22-2010 at 2:47 pm

  42. actually using your real name or not makes very little difference. if you say something that is libel or slander your account can be traced, and you have to use your real name to sign up (otherwise you are commiting fraud). the best thing to do is a) keep your facts straight b) repeat someone else ;) c) sit silent and observe

    posted by Deven on 8-1-2010 at 12:53 pm

  43. I know someone who’s trying to get fired via Facebook, but maybe not trying quite hard enough…

    posted by Cecelia on 10-6-2010 at 12:36 pm

  44. I know Peace Corps volunteers who got administratively separated and sent home to the U.S. from their service countries for writing negative things on their blogs about the people they worked with, the country and culture.

    posted by Jennifer on 11-3-2010 at 2:35 am

  45. Most of these seem pretty creepy, employers using the internet to big brother their employees. #6 is especially bad, since a Cisco employee should know better than to troll like that. It’s no wonder she didn’t take the job, I wouldn’t either, if they’re going to be poking into your personal life like that. Cisco comes out looking bad, not the employee who tweeted.

    posted by Coherent on 11-29-2010 at 9:14 pm

  46. Additional fact: Mike Bascik is the pitcher who gave up homerun No. 756 to Barry Bonds.

    posted by Jon on 12-15-2010 at 1:19 am

  47. I’m not sure if you guys over the pond will have heard about this, but in England, David Cameron Famously said on live, morning radio@: “The trouble with Twitter, the instantness of it – too many twits might make a twat.”

    Thought this might be an amusing addition.
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/5930350/David-Cameron-apologises-for-Twitter-radio-swearing-gaffe.html

    posted by Emi on 1-12-2011 at 12:25 pm

  48. Wanted to add Gilbert Gottfried

    posted by zinc or no zinc on 3-15-2011 at 1:36 pm

  49. I was fired from my job of 3.5 years, where I was a model employee, for posting a Facebook status update about my extremely rude manager. I was not FB friends with her, and my posts were friends only. However, a former coworker who I was still supposedly friends with, showed my update to the manager in question. They assumed (correctly) that it was about her, even though I didn’t name any names or say the name of my work place in the update. This manager had it out for me from the start, so she whined to the GM about it and got me fired. I don’t think an employee’s activities outside of the workplace and off duty should punishable at work! Such bull! :(

    posted by ToxicNerd on 5-20-2011 at 7:27 am

  50. Let’s not forget about the legislating lecher from New York. I even wrote a powem about him. Several dozen of them, actually. I need help, but here is one of the better ones:

    Representative Weiner from Queens
    was impressed by the bulge in his jeans.
    First he tweeted his junk,
    then he lied like a skunk.
    And now his career? Smithereens. sorry I can’t help it.

    posted by Jack Haley on 6-29-2011 at 1:11 pm

  51. No offense people, but in this day of bad economic times, I hope they fire everyone for complaining about their jobs. I am trying to get work in North Dakota…so could all the Fargo-ites start bitching on the Twit so tomorrow I can tell your bosses how I would never look a gift horse in the mouth? Thanks poodles!

    posted by lilgtogirl on 7-15-2011 at 9:04 pm

  52. POLYAMORY IS WRONG. Don’t mix Greek and Latin!

    posted by Makenn on 8-4-2011 at 11:07 pm

  53. Hopefully the writer of this article is not blacklisted for reporting the Jane Adams incident…What an uptight little wench.

    posted by TinyE on 9-24-2011 at 1:16 pm

  54. Did anyone see that episode of “The City” (sorry for those of you who do not watch trash T.V.) where they hired a new intern, who immediately tweeted about how she was going to be on T.V.? Once the employees saw, she was toast before she even began her position.

    posted by Cgeorgie on 12-5-2011 at 1:36 pm

  55. we have NO privacy any more! it frightens me a little.

    posted by DebraHubbard on 12-7-2011 at 7:50 pm

  56. @jack LOVE IT!!!!!!!

    posted by DebraHubbard on 12-7-2011 at 7:51 pm

  57. #3 is why At-Will Employment IS Domestic Terrorism.

    I can understand the others, because they do reflect on the company. What what you do in your private life is your own business, and the 1st Amendment says you have the right to talk about it publicly !

    As long as it’s not on company time, or not a reflection on the company, it’s none of their damned business.

    What right does ANY employer have to require you to waive your Constitutional Rights in order to get or keep a job?

    posted by James on 12-21-2011 at 12:22 pm

  58. So, what if you reverse these situations, all you who complain that what you tweet is “personal” and shouldn’t affect your job, blah blah blah? What if TBK’s employer tweeted that they had a (hot/whatever) nympho working for them, or California Pizza Kitchen tweeted that Chantarangsu wasn’t a team player and was causing problems in the Kitchen, or if Jane Adams tweeted that she’d had a crappy lunch at Barney Greengrass, forgotten her wallet but luckily had saved the cost of a tip, or if Cisco tweeted that they’d offered a job to a pretty ordinary candidate who probably wouldn’t like the job anyway? That would be pretty unacceptable, right…?

    posted by Chillirose on 1-5-2012 at 1:25 am

  59. I work for a restaurant and I know they follow FB & twitter for comments that would reflect poorly on the company. I know of people who have been let go for making comments about our guests and also an employee that was let go for an inappropriate picture posted of them by another employee. These days you have to really think twice before you hit “post”.

    posted by LadyRed on 2-5-2012 at 3:57 am

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