Can You Be Fired for Social Media Posts?

Legal Expert Javier Perez joins us to discuss if you can be fired for social media posts. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Listen, man, you think you can post anything you want
on social media, but guess who might be watching. This
is West Michigan's Morning newsty Kelly Brett, Kaita, Laurence Smith,
hobb Er Perez legal expert back on the liveline with
us this morning. Thanks for doing this today.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Good morning has Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
It's a tough time to get away with stuff. If
you're adding some anger vitriol on social media, you could
get in trouble for this. Right. What's the law say
about getting fired from a job for something you put online?

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Yeah, we've definitely seen an uptick in this in recent weeks.
If you are a public employee, meaning you work for
a state or the federal government, that's the only place
where you might have some First Amendment protections for things
that you say. But if you work for a private employer,
you really have no expectation. An employer can let you

(00:53):
go for anything you do, any reason or no reason,
so long as it's not any legal reason, including you
post something online they don't like.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
So let me ask you something Ovier. I think this
is interesting to that point because of the whole social
media coming into existence in the last really two decades.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Right.

Speaker 3 (01:09):
As far as for Steve and I are concerned, if
you post it publicly, then obviously they could have a
problem with it. If you go to your boss, or
let's say you're even in a conference room with fellow
employees and you voice your opinion and maybe you have
a little vitriol to that, chances are right, that's a
better situation than posting it for public, right.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
I mean, I think kind of just practically speaking, part
of part of the downside for an employer to have
employees saying incendiary or controversial things online is the reputational
harm potentially, right, So you keep it within the walls
of the employer. I think that's less bad for the employer,

(01:52):
But that doesn't mean, I mean, they could fire you
for that as well. This is where you know, you
really have to kind of read the room, so to speak,
and recognize as kind of where the boundaries are.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
Well, let's talk about best practices then, And I think
this is probably pointed at younger folks especially who have
no unexpressed thought, right. I think those of us who
are a little older understand decorum and maybe the world's
going to still go on without my opinion about something,
But what should you do if you're somebody and maybe

(02:23):
even especially looking for a job, because employers are now
looking at that stuff.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Too, one hundred percent. And I think this is not
just kind of like what have you posted recently, but
you know, we've heard lots of employers or recruiters will
go look through somebody's social media accounts and see kind
of what are the sorts of things that they're doing,
what are the sorts of things that they're saying, and
it gives you an insight into that person that you

(02:50):
wouldn't normally get in kind of a more traditional, you know,
series of interviews. So I think you should absolutely be
mindful of what you got out there that's tied to
your name and recognize that, you know, someone who's going
to be evaluating you in some capacity is going to
be able to see that. We do live in an
age where a lot of what you do is documented

(03:15):
and as you said, every thought expressed. So I think
being mindful that someday someone's going to be able to
see that really ought to kind of give you some
pause before you post stuff.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Legal Expert jab Or Perez always great stuff. Thanks for
your time this morning.

Speaker 2 (03:31):
Absolutely thanks for having me