digital imagery and social media also aim to prevent negative public opinions that are promulgated by a careless post made by firefighters or other employees. What might seem to be a harmless post online could cause a tidal wave of problems for the agency and the firefighter. Therefore, social media policies attempt to minimize the employer’s exposure to these legal issues.
Conversely, firefighters and other public employees want to exercise their First Amendment constitutional rights as they see fit and freely post to Facebook or Twitter. The First Amendment right to freedom of speech is generally a very personal right to most people and being limited in that right does not sit well with most. Certainly firefighters and other public employees …show more content…
This can be troublesome and costly for employers. Employees posting video or photographs of accident scenes or medical responses could violate the HIPAA laws and other personal privacy laws. Another legal issue that can arise from social media is spoliation, which is the destruction or loss of evidence that is relevant to a legal proceeding (Varone, 2012, p. 604). When a firefighter takes photographs at a fire or accident scene, those pictures could be considered evidence and must be treated as such if there is any question about a future potential legal issue or proceeding. Deleting any of the photographs which are later determined relevant to the legal issue in dispute could drastically effect a legal proceeding by causing a spoliation instruction to be given to the jury allowing them to infer that the deleted photographs were harmful or negative for the party who spoiled the evidence. (A. Hernandez, personal communication, December 5, …show more content…
Captain Duke worked for the Clayton State University Police Department for eight years with no performance problems. In November 2012, after the presidential election, he posted a picture of a confederate flag to his Facebook page with the comment, “It’s time for the second revolution.” The university and a local television network received several anonymous tips concerning the post and investigated. Ultimately the captain received disciplinary action and demoted for his Facebook post. He filed a lawsuit in federal court and ultimately the judge ruled that the Clayton State University police chief did not violate Captain Duke’s First Amendment rights by demoting him. The Court determined that the police chief had a special interest to ensure the Facebook post did not damage the department’s reputation or performance (Duke v. Hamil, 2014). Digital imagery is a powerful tool and people posting pictures have to consider the consequences before
Conversely, firefighters and other public employees want to exercise their First Amendment constitutional rights as they see fit and freely post to Facebook or Twitter. The First Amendment right to freedom of speech is generally a very personal right to most people and being limited in that right does not sit well with most. Certainly firefighters and other public employees …show more content…
This can be troublesome and costly for employers. Employees posting video or photographs of accident scenes or medical responses could violate the HIPAA laws and other personal privacy laws. Another legal issue that can arise from social media is spoliation, which is the destruction or loss of evidence that is relevant to a legal proceeding (Varone, 2012, p. 604). When a firefighter takes photographs at a fire or accident scene, those pictures could be considered evidence and must be treated as such if there is any question about a future potential legal issue or proceeding. Deleting any of the photographs which are later determined relevant to the legal issue in dispute could drastically effect a legal proceeding by causing a spoliation instruction to be given to the jury allowing them to infer that the deleted photographs were harmful or negative for the party who spoiled the evidence. (A. Hernandez, personal communication, December 5, …show more content…
Captain Duke worked for the Clayton State University Police Department for eight years with no performance problems. In November 2012, after the presidential election, he posted a picture of a confederate flag to his Facebook page with the comment, “It’s time for the second revolution.” The university and a local television network received several anonymous tips concerning the post and investigated. Ultimately the captain received disciplinary action and demoted for his Facebook post. He filed a lawsuit in federal court and ultimately the judge ruled that the Clayton State University police chief did not violate Captain Duke’s First Amendment rights by demoting him. The Court determined that the police chief had a special interest to ensure the Facebook post did not damage the department’s reputation or performance (Duke v. Hamil, 2014). Digital imagery is a powerful tool and people posting pictures have to consider the consequences before