Taco Bell fires employee for Facebook post of shell-licking

The unidentified employee and his co-worker photographer are no longer working at the involved Taco Bell franchise, the company announced on its website. A picture posted on Facebook had shown the employee licking a tall stack of shells and the social media masses were pretty grossed out.

Note that the employee did not intend for these shells to be consumed by the general public:
"The taco shells were used for training in March before we launched a new product, and were in process of being thrown out. Two employees, however, used them to take a photo for an internal contest in which company and franchise employees could submit for approval photos of themselves enjoying their first bite of the product. The contest had clear guidelines about what was acceptable and unacceptable. This image was clearly unacceptable – it violated the rules and spirit of the contest, and the employees never submitted it. But an employee posted it on a personal social media page in violation of the franchisee's policies, and it emerged online in social media."

Takeaway: Nothing is funny if misconstrued over social networks.

Continue reading: Taco Bell fires employee for Facebook post of shell-licking

Don’t make workplace social networking policies vague, overly broad

Good article by Boise State professor:

Based on recent court rulings from the National Labor Relations Board and comments from its General Counsel, union and non-union employees should not be prohibited from discussing or complaining about their working conditions with co-workers. The National Labor Relations Act allows employees to have “concerted activity” in such discussions. It is sort of like a discussion in front of a virtual water cooler. Criticizing managers is protected speech.

But there are cases where the speech can cross the line. In one of the 14 comments, Fred posted: “Hey, I just found out that stupid rat Carl’s password to his email — it is ‘golf$&player’. Time to embarrass the daylights out of him.”

Continue reading: Don’t make social networking policies vague, overly broad

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/05/07/2565789/dont-make-social-networking-policies.html#storylink=cpy

Companies Lack Social Media Harassment Policies, Survey Finds

Law360, New York (May 30, 2013, 9:45 PM ET) -- Employers are underprepared when it comes to dealing with harassment complaints tied to social media use and not enough companies have specific policies in place that tackle social media-related harassment, according to survey results released recently by NAVEX Global.The apparent lack of preparation for dealing with social media issues comes at a time when companies should be expecting a continued rise in social media-related complaints, according to ethics and compliance solutions provider NAVEX.

Survey Results (Navex press release, May 20)

Key survey findings on emerging harassment trends include: 

• Sexual orientation (79 percent), religious (73 percent) and disability (71 percent) harassment are among the most common trends companies cover in their harassment prevention training.
• 75 percent of organizations are actively training against retaliation claims. However, there has been an uptick in the number of retaliation claims over the past 12 months.
• Around 23 percent of those who responded have also seen an increase in bullying claims over the last year, which may be due in part to only 50 percent of organizations training employees on bullying prevention.
• Only 34 percent of respondents have a specific policy for handling harassment via social media.
• Of employers with global employees, 58 percent are now providing harassment training to employees outside the U.S.

Facebook agrees to block sexual assault 'humor'

Facebook is changing its policy on "humorous" posts and images that make light of rape and violence against women, following pressure from activists and advertisers.

In a statement published Tuesday, Facebook says it will process more complaints and will train its staff of reviewers using guidance from women's groups and legal experts. And should egregious material continue to slip through, women's advocacy groups will have direct contact with the social network.

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Facebook agrees to block sexual assault 'humor'

NBC News

Teachers targeted in Twitter harassment

Updated: Thursday, 23 May 2013, 10:30 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 23 May 2013, 3:43 PM EDT

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WIVB) - Orchard Park Police Chief Mark Pacholec says his department and the Orchard Park School District are investigating a case of harassment on Twitter.

Police are in the initial investigation stage and are trying to backtrack some leads. Chief Pacholec says the messages posted Wednesday on Twitter were harassing in nature towards one or more Orchard Park teachers.

Continue reading Teachers targeted in Twitter harassment

Social media takes workplace harassment to a new level

Recent cases that highlight these challenges:

• Earlier [in 2012], an employer paid $2.3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the EEOC alleging sexual harassment and retaliation. A store manager allegedly sent sexually charged text messages to an employee who reported the harassment to her direct supervisor. The supervisor was fired after he reported the harassment to the company’s legal department.
• A court upheld a $1.6 million verdict in favor of an employee with a disability who was harassed by co-workers on a blog outside the workplace. The employee reported the harassment but the employer failed to take effective action. The employer was found liable because it was aware of the harassment and didn’t stop it.

Source:

Social media takes workplace harassment to a new level

Illinois Governor signs Social Media bill giving judges the ability to double criminal sentences

Using social networks to commit crimes just got a lot more complicated for criminals.

Click here to read:
Illinois Governor signs Social Media bill