Facebook Comments Can Get You Fired! People Who have Lost their Job

There are numerous examples of people losing their jobs and messing up their careers because of comments they made on Facebook.

Facebook is a wonderful social networking site but you have to be very careful.

These people I have written about below thought they were having a private moan about their boss or job to their friends on Facebook.

They were mistaken and it got them fired!

You will be amazed at some of the stupid comments that people post on Facebook!

When you read about some users of Facebook whose comments got them sacked from their jobs you will be surprised at just how idiotic and naive they were!

Moaning about your job



Before the creation of the internet and social networking sites like Facebook we would all have a moan about our jobs, bosses and careers. We’d come home and tell our mates or family about the terrible day we had at work.

We’d go on about the stupid irritating or boring things our boss wanted us to do during our working day.

Or if we were in the service industry we would have lots of stories to tell about the stupid, irritating and down right rude clients and customers we had to deal with on a daily basis.

We’d feel better for chatting about it and be fully strengthened enough to go back into work and start another day. That is until a few years ago!

A lot of people have continued this human trait and now chat to their friends and family via the internet. The social networking sites and particularly facebook have become our main source of communication.

We chat away about our private lives including our family and job situation. We upload photos of our celebrations and holidays. We use facebook as our own private communication tool. It is safe after all. We are only talking to our friends right? Wrong!

Once you write something on any social networking site it is there for ever. It is written down and can be seen and read by millions. You can assume it is only for the ‘Friends’ you have accepted on facebook. This assumption is wrong and could cost you your job.

Facebook privacy settings



Do you have your Privacy settings on facebook set on ‘friends’ or ‘friends of friends’ or ‘everyone’? Change it to ‘friends’ that way you have eliminated millions of people who can access your facebook page.

But even by setting the privacy settings at ‘Friends’ this is no guarantee of security for your private conversations.

Protecting your career! Beware of Facebook Comments

The best advice I can give you is Do Not write a comment on your Facebook wall unless you are absolutely sure it will not come back to haunt you. Or in the case of these people below that it does not get you sacked from your job.

Kimberley Swann Office Administrator 16 years old from the UK

Kimberley Swann from the UK was 16 years old when she got a job as an office worker at Ivell Marketing & Logistics. She found the job boring and unfortunately decided to tell her friends by posting comments on her facebook page.

Her first comment was 'first day at work. omg ! So dull!'

She went on to keep her friends on facebook informed about her job tasks. She told them how she had to shred, scan and punch holes in paper all of which she found boring. She continued to explain her daily routine of office work for the company for the next three weeks.

The boss reads her comments on Facebook

Her boss and owner of the company Mr. Ivell came across the comments while he was surfing the net. He called Kimberley in to his office and handed her a letter. It stated that she was sacked and gave the reason why.

It said that it was obvious from her comments on facebook that she was unhappy with her job and did not enjoy her office tasks so therefore the company was sacking her.

Kimberley says her comments were just for her friends and not for anyone else to read on the internet. She does not believe she deserved to be sacked from her job because she did not put the name of the company she was working for on her comments.

Stephanie Bon HR Assistant 37 years old from the UK

Stephanie worked as an assistant for Lloyds Banking Group and was paid £7 an hour. She was at a friend’s house when she heard on the TV News about the salary of the new boss of Lloyds Bank.

He was to get a wage package that totaled £13.5million. Stephanie worked it out that he would be paid £4,000 an hour.

She was not happy and made a comment on facebook which said, ‘LBGs new CEO gets £4,000 an hour, I get £7. That's fair.'

The bank saw the comment and she was told by her manager that she should not be writing comments like that about the bank. Then she was fired.

Stephanie is annoyed that she lost her job because of comments she made on facebook. She says she was just having a chat with her friends and that the comments she made were fact and nothing confidential.

A statement from Lloyds TSB denies that Stephanie Bon was sacked because of comments she made on facebook. They say she was on a short term contract and that contract came to an end.

Dawn Marie Souza a Paramedic from Connecticut USA

Dawn Marie Souza worked for American Medical Response and had an issue with her supervisor and was not happy. She posted a comment on her page which stated ‘Love how the company allows a 17 to become a supervisor’. In her job the number 17 relates to a psychiatric patient.

She went on to have a conversation through the comments on this post. Other workers who understood her code and knew the supervisor chatted about the situation. The company read the comments and sacked her as a direct result of her comments on facebook.

Legal Action

The National Labor Relations Board is now involved and is supporting Dawn Marie Souza in her claim for unfair dismissal.

Carl Boulter Police Officer. 47 years old from UK

Carl Boulter worked as a Police officer and was stationed in Fillongley village in Warwickshire UK. He was working as a Community Support Officer in the village. He was not happy with some of the rules of the job and wrote about it on his facebook page.

When the comments were seen by his bosses Carl Boulter was sacked. The reason given was that he had been making inappropriate postings about his job with Warwickshire Police.

Some of his comments he posted on facebook were:

‘I wish I could find another job.’ 'I hate wearing this stupid stab proof vest out in the countryside where there's no need for it.'

Carl Boulter has since lost an appeal against his sacking. He says that at the time he was depressed and suffering from personal problems. He also stated that he felt at the time that it was no different than chatting with his mates in a pub and believed his comments on facebook were private.

Kate Furlong, Debts officer. 23 years old from Shropshire, England.

Kate Furlong worked for the Royal Bank of Scotland. The bank announced they would be relocating some workers and making some redundant. When Kate Furlong, heard this was very happy because it meant she would be made redundant and would receive a payout of £6000.

So she made a comment to that affect on her facebook page. She wrote that she was very happy as this was the best news ever because she would be getting a nice payout. Those comments cost Kate her job and the expected redundancy money.

Again here is another worker who has lost their job and explains they assumed they were only talking to their friends and mates on the internet. This case will be another one that goes before the court for unfair dismissal.

13 workers sacked by Virgin Atlantic in UK

In 2008 thirteen flight attendants from Virgin Atlantic lost their jobs because of their comments on facebook about the company. They had been chatting away about the bad work conditions and the safety of some of the planes. They were not too complimentary about some of the passengers either.

The company stated that the staff had been sacked because they broke staff policies because their comments on facebook amounted to ‘totally inappropriate behaviour.’

Tom Beech

Tom Beech worked for Argos in the UK he wrote on his facebook page, ‘I work at Argos and can't wait to leave because it's shit". He promptly got his wish, he was sacked.

Be careful what comments you post on your Facebook page. Comments on Facebook can get you fired from your job

So the lesson here is if you feel like having a moan about your boss or job then do not do it in writing online on any social networking site.

I have written about only a few of the people who were sacked because of their unguarded comments on the internet.

Be careful what you post and keep your job and career safe.

© Copyright 2011. L.M.Reid