Obtaining information “illegally”

[Krysarielle]

i Work for allied universal as a security supervisor. Back in October I was out of work for three days with mrsa but had a doctors note excusing me. Prior to getting the infection, I bought tickets to a haunted house and spent about $100. Regardless of having the infection, I wasn’t going to throw that money away and not go. So I went. I went before the scheduled time I was suppose to be in work. I posted a few pictures on Snapchat from that night. My boyfriend, who is the cousin in law of my boss went also. My boss went to his family members that had me on social media to get information on me ( not my boyfriend). They sent him pics and gave him updates. They do not work for the company. My boss told me that he knew what I did and that I would be fired for that. What blew my mind was the fact he used his family members to spy on me and then tried to use that information to fire me. Can he do that? I didn’t have anything that said where I worked. I tried to file a complaint with the company’s HR source but I have not heard anything and it’s been over a month. Two other managers from different sites said what he did was illegal and should be fired and same with someone who used to work in HR for the company. Now the director of operations called me and just brushed it under the carpet saying they can obtain information anyway. That it doesn’t matter how they get it. I need advice please!

 

[Taxing Matters]

In what state do you work? That matters because much of labor law is state law.

That being said, in most, if not all states, there is no law that prohibits an employer from looking at your publicly available social media accounts or getting information on what you do from the bosses relatives. If someone you knew saw you at the haunted house and ratted you out to your boss, that's legal too. In at least one state you may not be fired for legal things you do outside of work, but even in that state you could be fired because the boss believed you lied when you said you were too sick to work. And frankly, if you were up to going to the haunted house, it's not hard for the employer to believe you should have been able to come to work. It was not a wise choice to go out doing fun stuff while at the same time you are telling the boss you're too sick to work. If you are too sick to work, stay home. And certainly don't post pics of your fun time on social media! People need to learn to be more careful what they post on social media. It can come back to bite them. Especially if what you post is something your boss would not want to see. I post nothing on personal social media accounts for that reason. But if you are going to do it, first ask yourself if anyone you know might not like what you put up. Because once you put it up you can't entirely control who sees it.

 

[adjusterjack]

I need advice please!

File for unemployment compensation and hope you aren't disqualified for misconduct.

Your boss did nothing wrong or illegal. You made an unwise move and got fired for it.

Learn from the experience.

 

[cbg]

Unless FMLA is involved, and apparently it was not, a doctor's note excusing you from work has as much legal weight as a note from me excusing you from work would have.

 

[stealth2]

I am always amazed that people don't realize that posts on social media are PUBLIC. Anyone can see them. Including your boss and their family/friends.

Not to mention your exposing everyone at that venue to contagion.

 

[FlyingRon]

Life is not like primary school. Notes from your doctor or mommy don't excuse you.

 

[commentator]

I want to clear something up. Were you fired for that? All this continuing discussion with HR leads me to believe maybe you are still working there. Else you do not need to be fooling with "filing a complaint with HR" or anything of the sort.

All you would need to do if fired for misuse of social media, or the famous one we used to see all the time "abusling your sick leave" or pretty much any reason they give for firing you is file a claim for unemployment benefits as soon as you are terminated. It is very legal for them to terminate you for just about any reason. The famous one is if they don't like the green socks you wore to work that day.

However, after you are fired for this, filing for unemployment insurance would be your next step. And they are actually interested in a note from your doctor. They'll provide you with the medical form when you file a claim. While your employer can fire you for not acting sick enough while off on sick leave, or for the unflattering shots of you on social media, the unemployment system will take a claim and if you are off work through no fault of your own (as in, I was sick) and when you returned, you were terminated because the employer saw pictures of you out having a good time while you shoulda stood in bed or something, this is probably not going to be enough of a reason to keep you from receiving unemployment benefits. Which will end up costing the employer money.

That's not childish. If you are off work and prohibited from returning back to work by a legitimate medical restriction, and the company finds out you "weren't really sick" or were out doing other fun things, that will probably not be enough of a valid misconduct reason to terminate you for unemployment purposes, but for whether it's legal or not for the employer to fire you, yes they can do it to you. It would be profoundly stupid of them to just threaten, and then not do it, if you're still working there, just be warned how they are and what you probably shouldn't do next time.

If you were fired, and you haven't found another job yet, file a claim for unemployment benefits and find another job.

I'm a little bit snappish about this one, because I used to have a boss who would, when an employee was off sick, make home visits to make sure you were "really sick." While she had been told repeatedly not to do this, it was part of our reality, and if she wasn't sure she was at the right house to make her illness check, she sat out in the driveway and blew her horn until someone came out.

Back when working, while doing chemo, I actually made a short business related trip with my husband, bald, bloated and nauseated though I was. And some small minded creeps at my work commented that they "didn't see how I could continue to use sick leave" if I was doing well enough to take a trip!