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Tribunal WatchGig economySocial mediaDisability discriminationEmployment contracts

Social media misconduct: fair dismissal over historic tweets

by Stephen Simpson 19 Jan 2017
by Stephen Simpson 19 Jan 2017 Photo: Jeff Blackler/REX/Shutterstock.
Photo: Jeff Blackler/REX/Shutterstock.

An employment tribunal held that a long-serving employee was fairly dismissed for making derogatory comments about his colleagues and his employer on Twitter up to three years previously. Stephen Simpson rounds up recent employment tribunal decisions.

Social media: employee fairly dismissed for historic tweets
Creighton v Together Housing Association Ltd concerns a long-serving employee who was dismissed for making derogatory comments about his colleagues and his employer that he had posted on Twitter up to three years previously.

Social media misconduct: tribunal’s view

“…the derogatory comments had been made on an open Twitter account, were visible to anyone and would be there forever.

“As part of the investigation the claimant’s Twitter account was examined. The claimant was invited to comment upon the various postings. He had the opportunity…to offer his explanations but did not come up with anything that satisfied [the employer].

“In my judgement this makes the respondent’s investigation into the tweets reasonable and fair.”

Mr Creighton began as an engineering apprentice for a housing association in 1987. By 2014, he had worked his way up to lead gas engineer.

During an investigation into alleged bullying of another engineer, his employer discovered that he had made derogatory comments a number of years previously about his colleagues and employer on his open Twitter account.

The employer took disciplinary action against Mr Creighton. Although the bullying allegations were dismissed, the employer dismissed Mr Creighton for gross misconduct over his tweets.

The tweets included a post to two of his colleagues to “just carry on and pick up your wage, this place is f**ked. It’s full of absolute bell ends who ant [sic] got any balls”.

The disciplinary panel dismissed Mr Creighton despite his arguments that:

  • he had thought his tweets were private;
  • he had posted them two or three years ago; and
  • he “deserved to be treated sympathetically” after nearly 30 years’ service.

His appeal against his dismissal was rejected and he brought an employment tribunal claim for unfair dismissal.

Social media misconduct cases

First Twitter case acts as warning for employers

No special rules apply to Facebook misconduct cases

Fair dismissal for offensive Facebook comments about colleague

B&Q worker unfairly dismissed for Facebook comments about workplace

Demotion for Facebook posts was repudiatory breach of contract

The tribunal did not uphold Mr Creighton’s claim.

It accepted that his dismissal was for a potentially fair reason related to his conduct.

His employer was entitled to take action when it discovered that Mr Creighton had made derogatory comments about his employer on a public Twitter account.

Mr Creighton had been given the opportunity to explain the comments but his response had not satisfied the association.

According to the employment tribunal, the age of the tweets did not matter.

Read more details of the case and practical tips for employers…

 

Other tribunal decisions in the headlines

CitySprint courier is a worker
In a second high-profile decision on employment status in the gig economy, this employment tribunal held that a CitySprint courier is a worker rather than self-employed. XpertHR provides a full law report on the decision, explaining its implications for employers.

Woman wins legal fight against M&S
A woman sacked by Marks and Spencer after more than 20 years’ service has won her legal fight against the firm, the Hereford Times reports.

Whistleblower awarded £5,631
A whistleblower who turned down an out-of-court settlement so she could speak about her ordeal has been awarded just £5,631 following a tribunal, says the Eastern Daily Press.

Golf expert set for huge payout
A tribunal has found that a golf expert was unfairly sacked by the PGA European Tour for refusing to take an 80% pay cut, according to the Daily Mail.

Imam was unfairly dismissed, but will get no compensation
An Imam was unfairly dismissed by his mosque but will receive no financial compensation after a judge found there had been fault on both sides, the Burton Mail reports.

Avatar
Stephen Simpson

Stephen Simpson is a principal employment law editor at XpertHR. His areas of responsibility include the policies and documents and law reports. After obtaining a law degree and training to be a solicitor, he moved into publishing, initially with Butterworths. He joined XpertHR in its early days in 2001.

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