Hey, kids - you could get your parents fired for what you posted on Facebook ....
From WESH:
More and more parents are getting burned when their children spill family secrets online.
... Some parents are getting arrested or fired.
"I've represented a lot of parents who've come to me when they have been fired, they've been demoted or they've been called on the carpet because of what their kids posted online," Internet safety expert with Wired Safety Parry Aftab said.Aftab said many teens still don't get that their posts on networking and blogging sites aren't private.
"I always warn kids never to post anything that parents, principal, predators can't see. Now, I have to warn them not to post anything that their parents' boss or anybody in their neighborhood shouldn't be seeing either," Aftab said.
I am suspicious of these kinds of stories. I think they are becoming increasingly ridiculous.
I have not heard of a single case of an employee terminated because of a post on a child's Facebook profile. To suggest such a termination would be lawful is a joke.
Employers are not permitted to peer through the curtains into their employees' bedrooms. Or into the online lives of their employees' children.
I cannot imagine any court in Ontario condoning this kind of behaviour. Harassment is actionable, online or face-to-face.
Word of advice: if your employer harasses you because of something your child said online, don't go see an "internet safety expert."
See a lawyer.
And, hey, employers... leave those kids alone.
.....
UPDATE - October 18, 2007: Parry Aftab, the "internet safety expert" referenced above posted a comment on this story. You can read it in full by clicking into our comments section, but I'll excerpt it here:
Thanks for your comments on my quote. I agree that if someone is terminated, they should see a lawyer. That's a good thing, since I am also a lawyer.
Sometimes Internet safety experts become Internet safety experts becasue they are lawyers who understand underlying risks. Note that I am not a Canadian lawyer, though. I am a US one, licensed in NY and NJ. And these are real clients and cases I have handled either for the employer or the employee.
Well, Parry, thank you for the clarification. Obviously the failure by the writer of the article to mention your professional credentials was a significant omission.
If you're able to continue the dialogue, I am sure our readers would like to hear specific details about the "real clients and cases" you've handled in which Facebook and MySpace postings by children landed their parents in the unemployment lines.
If we're fortunate enough to hear back from you, I'll be glad to publish your further comments.
.....
UPDATE: November 4, 2007 - Hey, Parry -we're still waiting on those details... I mean, there were specific cases, right?
UPDATE - November 13, 2007 - Well Parry finally got back to us. You can read the entire post in the comments section below. I'll only excerpt the money quote:
The cases I referenced... were not from facebook or myspace.
Case closed.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net
2 comments:
Thanks for your comments on my quote. I agree that if someone is terminated, they should see a lawyer. That's a good thing, since I am also a lawyer.
Sometimes Internet safety experts become Internet safety experts becasue they are lawyers who understand underlying risks.
Note that I am not a Canadian lawyer, though. I am a US one, licensed in NY and NJ. And these are real clients and cases I have handled either for the employer or the employee. In the US employers can fire you for any and no reason, as long as you are not a "protected class" (such as race, religion, gender, age, etc.) or are not subject to a contract of employment (which would also include union collective bargaining agreement).
I am sure as a lawyer, you recognize that there is lots of information a child would have that parents would not want an employer to know.
If information comes to an employers attention from any source, even Facebook postings, it is really true in Canada that the employer would be guilty of harassment in acting on it?
Interesting differences in law between the US and Canada, apparently.
Best.
Parry Aftab, Esq.
Aftab.com and volunteer executive director, WiredSafety.org
Smart Money Magazine ran with this story first. Since these are clients, I cannot divulge more than I did in that article. It was the Sept or October issue. Other cases went on the record. You can read those in the article.
Notwithstanding your position that this can't happen in Canada, it does happen in the US and with open access to information, I suspect can in Canada as well. All they need to do it confirm the information they read about. I am not aware of any laws in Canada prohibiting an employer from acting on information they receive about an employee.
I welcome your pointing them out to me.
The cases I referenced, in addition, were not from facebook or myspace (I work with both on privacy and safety issues, BTW).
They were from other postings.
I don't monitor your blog and hadn't heard of it until you posted about me. It had come up on a google alert when you mentioned me the first time.
I am happy to respond, if my response is helpful and if you are sincere in your desire to understand this better. But since I do not read your blog, you would have to let me know. E-mail is the best way.
cheers,
Parry
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