Indiana Man Doesn't "LIKE" The Employment Lesson He Learned On Facebook

Link To Article

WABASH, Ind. (CNN) An Indiana man is fired, and has Facebook to blame for it. He joined a page on the social networking site that slammed a product made by his company and that has him looking for a new job.

Drew Stith lives in Wabash, Indiana, in the northern part of the state southwest of Fort Wayne. He has worked for Living Essentials for more than a year, until he says a post he made on Facebook cost him his job: "It was because there was a Facebook page called Five Hour Energy Sucks, and so I liked that page. I don't really like the product that they make, I mean it doesn't work for me."

But Stith did like his job, though he says even his good work record couldn't have saved him. "They said if I don't like their product and I work there that, that makes their company look bad."

Anthony Juliano specializes in social media and says companies are within their rights to terminate over internet postings, but says they also have to have their policies clear for employees. He says, "Employers certainly have the right to make decisions about termination and hiring based on a lot of different factors, but they're certainly better protected if they have policies in place that help employees and help them understand what's permissible and what isn't."

What do you think? In my opinion, he was fired fair and square. I cannot believe people have not wised up about their internet usage yet. The first thing I do at any job anymore or when I just meet someone new, I Facebook them. Actually I google them, and Facebook usually comes up.

This guy seems really dumb.

So should the company have to even have it in their policy regarding internet postings and termination?

What the hell happened to having it in your common sense?

I believe if you post something online, enjoy your freedom. And do not sqwawk when someone else, while excercising their freedom online, runs across your post, and acts accordingly.

I think this just opens the door for employers to keep tabs on their employees when they are not on the clock.

I agree that this moron should not have posted that on his FB. But then again, he has that right.

This is a slippery-slope of sorts and I hate to see what will happen now that employers have gone this route.

reply to post by hotbakedtater


I think that if he deserved to be fired for this it's just as stupid for a woman dressed up non-conservatively to expect to be taken seriously in the workplace.

OH YEAH, I went there.

Unless he was on the clock while using Facebook I don't believe there should be grounds for terminating his employment. As far as I can tell, he did not post anything libelous.

Originally posted by hotbakedtater

The first thing I do at any job anymore or when I just meet someone new, I Facebook them. Actually I google them, and Facebook usually comes up.

And that, right there, is why I deleted all my social networking accounts 2 years ago. I've had a couple companies try to tell me that thier policy is..., fortuneately Canadian Federal Law mandates that to operate in this country they must adhere to certain rules...deleting any account at the user's request is one of those rules.

Are they right in firing him? Increasingly laws are being crafted to tolerate these actions. My question though is how did they find out?

Online Privacy VS Public Domain is increasing becoming a grey area with us as the losers. As a techie by trade, I do agree that people need to be more careful of what they place online, but with FB you have to be concerned with what others post too. You may not have posted anything, but a friend or co-worker may tag you to something you'd prefer not to have published.

Very slippery slope and we the public are treating it like a slip-and-slide on a hot day.

The internet is comparable to the American Wild West. The biggest guns (ie Gov & Corps) are setting up the rules to benefit them, rules that will be around for centuries. The public's preception about the 'mysterious and magical' internet is allowing laws to be passed without any oversight because very little of it has any bearing on today or simple falls into the category of technobabble.

Tomorrow will be another story.

This is why you keep your profile private and don't ever add your coworkers or management or anybody else affiliated with your job. He was stupid, though I still feel the termination was stupid, as well. I mean used to be a company cared about customer satisfaction, and when negative feedback came from employees, they listened and tried to improve the product, and you didn't have to worry about losing your job because you told it like it is, this just proves companies DGAFF about the customers or employees any more, they just care about making money and looking good Publically. But to me they look like a giant AHOLE!

All the companies I worked for have the same thing in common:
A disclosure statement saying that you won't belittle the company you work for.

That goes beyond saying.
If the company is gracious enough to hire you, you shouldn't bad mouth it.
Common sense?

I think so.

If you don't like what your employer makes, find a new job.

reply to post by havok


It used to be companies made changes to their products because of employee and customer feedback. That's it, the companies just would rather shove junk down the public's throat and simply don't care anymore. Worse yet it probably was assembled in a chinese sweatshop... they don't care anymore and enough is enough! Wait till it's your job, from just simply telling your honest opinion on something!

Personally, I feel that any company has every right to hire or fire anyone they want for whatever reason they choose, including the "no-no's" like race, creed, color, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental handicap, etc. If a company makes good decisions in its hiring and firing practices, it thrives. If not, they suffer.

In this case, though, I think the company made the wrong decision, if the guy was a good worker. I pay people for the work they do, not their opinions. If one of my people told me that the work I was putting out was substandard, I would listen, observe, and evaluate. If they had suggestions for improvement, I would consider them. But I won't fire them just because they disagreed with me, as long as they do the work that I require of them.

The real indicator of whether or not the firing was justified will be in the company's bottom line. But if it were me, I wouldn't have fired the guy.

Who needs a 1984 type system when you have people willingly post eveything about themselves on facebook

How true is this story? I've just looked for Five Hour Energy Sucks on FB and it doesn't exsist, I was gonna like it Even if it isn't true, there are lots of similar tales, and I believe that if its done out of work hours, then a person should not be punished.

Freedom of Speech,

He's going to end up costing that company lots of money.Both the Indiana Constitution and the Federal Constitution give him the freedom of Speech/conscious.

Even though Indiana is not a "Right to Work" state, the company is admitting they fired him because he tagged something saying their product sucked.

If they were wise they would have fired him maybe a month later. Firing him immediately after his FaceBook act was illegal.

OK, found it, and liked it it's actually down as "5 Hour Energy Sucks"

Originally posted by woogleuk
OK, found it, and liked it

it's actually down as "5 Hour Energy Sucks"

Well now they really are trying to shove crap down our throat! I was just discussing this stuff the other day and how bad it sucks (the commercial came on TV). And it does taste awful!!!

The company I work for uses a pretty clean cut rule for this sort of stuff.

If you advertise that you work for the company, than bad mouth the company or it's products you can be terminated.

If you don't advertise that you work for us, you can bad mouth all you want.

The difference is the advertising that you work for us.

My employer sees it as a "do what you want on your own time" mixed with "if you are advertising MY name, you are on the clock" approach.

However, that being said, you will probably never get promoted after bad mouthing any of our products or services publicly. And, I do agree with that to some extent, it would be hard to have motivated employees if they don't believe in the products they sell.

Beware of Facebook.

They are watching you.

What he did is no different than clocking out of work...walking off company property...and start holding up a sign saying "5 hour energy sucks". If he did that...he would be fired as well.

Be smart people...being on the internet doesn't make your actions less important. In fact...they are probably more important because more people can see them.

The way I see it is that when an employee says a product sucks I take it as an opinion, unless I feel the need to research the product further I myself leave it at that. But when something like this happens and an employee through whatever means says a product sucks and the company fires that employee it automatically throws up a red flag in my head. To me it makes it look like the company has little faith in their product because the random employee that doesn't like it has the right not to like something that the company produces and everyone is different. It's really no different than a guy working in a womans clothing company and saying I don't like their products, number one the guy probably doesn't use them and number two if he doesn't use them why on earth would the company expect a guy to like or promote womans clothing? I know it's a stretch of an example but the same none the less, the guy said energy drink did not work for him so it was an opinion it's not like he was opening his own website slamming the company. Either way just another reason I don't need facebook, seems a lot of people want their freedom of speech but only when it's convenient and so long as no ones feelings get hurt in the process or bottom line.