Fired over facebook

[scruffybird]

I am in an awful position and wonder if any of you knowledgable ladies can help.
I work in a school and am under investigation for writing on facebook about my feelings after a recent school event.
Sorry don't feel I can go into too much detail on here. But I did not name anyone or the school.
I am worried they can get rid of me for gross misconduct and that I will not be able to then get references for my next job.
Any advice?

PHEW! Thanks for the good news, OP :)

A lucky escape and an important lesson you've had - but glad it turned out okay.

I do hope this serves as a warning to other MNers who didn't realise the gravity of how this is dealt with in (some) organisations (some of which is justified, some of which isn't, IMHO).

I have learnt an awful lot in the past two days, and will not be using facebook apart from on the odd occasion.
You also learn who your friends are at a time like this and who you can trust.

Pleased it's worked out well for you. Yes, I agree. Assuming your FB settings are reasonably tight, it means someone you considered trustworthy grassed you up - never a nice experience.

I'm glad you have had a lucky escape and learned a valuable lesson.

I will never be joining Facebook. I even worry about stuff I write on here, having read about the Gina Ford debacle.

Op- if you broke policy it doesn't matter if they were your closest friend, they should have whistleblown. If you mean that they added untrue information then that is different.

what's the Gina Ford debacle?

I write stuff so oblique only I know I'm ranting.

After a colleague tried to stitch me up with the boss over something that wasn't my fault I put something like:

Had a bad back today. Real pain between the shoulders. Not been nice at all. Oh well, nothing a few glasses of wine & a moan to the other half won't cure.

Urgh you have my sympathies, I hope it works out okay in the end

scruffy, glad to hear it!

AND JOIN A UNION!!
X

I had to have a quiet word with DS's reception teacher a few years back, who had an open fb profile (I came across it as she was a member of one of the same local groups as me) and she'd put something about 'report writing time, think I'll open a bottle of red to help!' the daft girl. She got really defensive at me ('I'm entitled to a life!') but did tighten up her privacy settings after that. If another parent had seen it she could easily have been sacked, I still think I was doing her a favour. It was in the early days of fb so hopefully she wouldnt be as naive now.

fgaaagh - back in 2007 someone on this forum made a joke about Gina Ford (google Gina Ford rocket if you are interested) and she threatened to sue MN and the person who wrote the comments for libel. Not sure how it ended, but I read an article written by the MNer involved and it was quite terrifying how quickly a flippant, supposedly "anonymous", remark escalated onto the front pages of the papers.

Never underestimate the power of the internet.

Oh the picture thing is about to get MUCH worse.

incredibly, fb have launched face recognition software to analyse all uploaded pics and suggest names to tag them with.

As usual, the technology is "opt-out", so automatically on unless you (and your friend who uploads a pic without your permission) say otherwise.

It's so creepy you couldn't make it up.

Make sure you have legal representation when discussing any of this any of the staff.
Do not discuss it with anybody from now on and delete anyone that has any link to the school from Facebook.
If you have received no training or contract about these sites then that should be your defence. If you have, then you need to reiterate that you made no actual reference to the school.
Do NOT go into any meeting on your own!! Take someone legal with you, no matter how informal they make it sound.
In future never make reference to your day when it involves a career where vulnerable people are associated.
Good luck.

scruffybird i do feel sorry for you. I had a recent event just like this. I was annoyed because I felt my manager was not helping me as a new mother and this was the way to get help from my friends. I went to my union and they told me to go above the managers if I felt i had a unsympathetic ones, and it helped a great deal and am happier in my job now. I hope this helps and your career (which im sure you worked very hard for and didnt mean to let a slip up like this stop you from having one) is ok :)

Its amazing who can find out what about your life through facebook. Fair enough you may know all your friends on there and maybe able to trust them, but can you trust them to not leave their facebook page open while in a public place for anyone to browse.

Can I just say that from an HR perspective, employers don't have to accept anyone other than a union rep or work colleague supporting you at a meeting. It is not usual for a company to allow "legal" representation at an internal disciplinary.However, contrary to what a pp stated you don't have to be a member of a union yourself to ask someone who is a union rep accompany you in such a situation. The person can belong to any union and doesn't necessarily have to be affiliated to a teaching one as the person you choose to accompany you. at this stage, is not there to answer for you or put your case - just to support you and witness that proceedings are carried out fairly.

I am glad that things have sorted themselves out and personally I don't think you necessarily have to join a union to protect yourself in the future ( the union reps I have dealt with recently have actually done their members more harm than good by having the unions interest paramount in their mind and not the individuals concerned.) However, I would suggest you re-read your handbook/contract and if unsure about anything in it clarify the content with HR to avoid confusion in the future.

Just as an aside if you need current independent advice in the future the ACAS helpline and website is free as is the CAB.