The recent case of solicitor Ms Deborah Elizabeth Daniels illustrates how dangerous it is to use social media to be abusive.
Ms Daniels was suspended and fined as the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal who found that she had used Twitter to be abusive towards Catholicism, Judaism and Islam. (see HERE). The obvious problem for Ms Daniels was that her statements were sent to the world and could clearly be attributable to her, a solicitor.
In the employment field, the misuse use of social media can also be fatal to a person’s career, even if the employee has a long an unblemished service history.
So what is to be done?
If you are an employee, don’t use any social media channels i.e. Twitter, Facebook etc to air grievances against your employer. Employers should make sure they have a policy which makes clear what constitutes acceptable use of social media at work and also the potential consequences of acting outside of work in a way that causes reputational damage to the employer.
We advise both employers and employees in all aspects of social media and computer use and would welcome the opportunity to assist you should the need arise.
Talem Law
7th August 2018