An employment tribunal has this month held that a pub manager was fairly dismissed on the basis of gross misconduct after she made inappropriate comments on a social networking site about two of her customers, who had verbally abused and threatened her.

Her employer was entitled to take the view that the conversation and posts to the website, which took place while she was at work, did not reflect her upset or anger at the customers, but represented a joke between her and her friends. It did not have to be taken into account that she thought that only close friends could see her entries because of privacy settings applied to her account. In fact, and as is often the case, a wider audience was able to view her postings, including relatives of the customers in question. The manager was subjected to a formal disciplinary procedure and found to be in breach of the e-mail and internet policy applicable to her employment. This policy made specific reference to employees’ use of social media while at work.

The case highlights the importance of having a clear internet policy in force and shows that employees can be held accountable for the details and comments that they publish in the public domain. It also demonstrates that the application of an email and internet policy, if done correctly through a formal disciplinary procedure, will be upheld by a Tribunal should the employee plead unfair dismissal. If you would like to consider having such policies prepared to suit the needs of your business, or would like to discuss employment issues generally, then please do not hesitate to contact Stephen Nixon, Andrew Pointon or David Evans at Enoch Evans LLP.

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