Facebook Vs Ehling

The advent of the internet and internet communications have brought about a wide range of unresolved questions about the issue of privacy. Many of these issues have only been addressed by the courts on a case-by-case basis; not much legal precedent has been developed that can be applied across the board. Therefore, everyone has to be mindful about their privacy when using the internet for any purpose. I am not surprised that the employers of Souza or Leone read their postings to Facebook and they should not be surprised either. They both willingly put the information out on the internet, which is a public medium. While there are settings to attempt to control the flow of information on social media, in no way is Facebook or the internet private and you should not post anything that you would not the world to know. In Colvin’s case, it does not specify where the party was held. I feel that that information is important in that again, if you are in a public venue, you cannot expect any level of privacy. However, if you are at a private party that you are not hosting, you are still subject to limitations on your privacy. Either way you look at it, Colvin made the choice to lie to his boss and simply got caught in that lie. Privacy aside, I do feel that employers should give employees an option to explain or to appeal their decisions. Sometimes even a good employee can have a temporary lapse of good judgement and without some level of recourse, a company could be firing otherwise good employees. Another option could be a probation program, where you are issued with a written waring and must ensure that another event does not happen within a certain period of time, or that a certain number of warnings can be issued within a certain time frame. I do not disagree with the actions of either employer in these cases; however I am assuming that both employees were at will employees. An employee represents their employer at all times, regardless of whether they are on the clock or if they wear a uniform. In short, bad employees make a company look bad. If I were the employer, other factors would have played into my decision to fire them, not just these incidents. Consideration of employee performance, attendance, attitude and other measures can assist in the decision to let someone go, to …show more content…
Monmouth-Ocean Hospital Service Corp., Deborah Ehling is a registered nurse and a certified paramedic. She is tasked daily with the duties of patient care and is expected to provide the highest level of care and safety to those under her protection. She posted a disparaging comment on her Facebook wall questioning the judgement of other paramedics in providing care to a shooter. Ms. Ehling had her privacy settings set so that only her Facebook friends could see this post. One of her Facebook friends showed this post to her supervisor, who then reported her to the New Jersey Board of Nursing and the New Jersey Department of Health, Office of Emergency Medical Services out of concern that her comment suggested an indifference to patient safety, regardless of her opinion of innocence. Ms. Ehling suggested that her employer did this with the intent to damage her reputation and employment prospects, and to negatively affect her nursing license and certification as a