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Music, Film, TV and Political News Coverage

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“Crunk Bear” teacher out of a job after tweeting near-nude photos

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Despite a massive Twitter campaign led by DJ/producer Diplo, Carly McKinney was let go by Cherry Creek School District Friday afternoon.

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This post is about "insensitivity on the workplace

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We've all posted something on social media that we've later regretted. Maybe it was a questionable joke? Or perhaps a photo or video that we had initially thought was funny? Most of the time, our senses kick in and we wind up deleting the post before anyone even notices. But sometimes, however, things are not that simple.

Regardless of how many friends or followers we have, one wrong post on social media could lead us to a whole lot of trouble; like being the subject of nationwide embarrassment, and even at times, the loss of a job.

For some examples of what not to do, here are seven workers who made headlines after being fired over a social media post.

1. The daycare employee who 'hates being around a lot of kids'

Source: Jezebel

Twenty-four written words on Facebook was all it took for Texas woman Kaitlyn Walls to get fired before the first day of her new daycare job.

"I start my new job today," the then 27-year-old mum posted on Facebook in April 2015. "But I absolutely hate working at daycare." She also wrote, "I just really hate being around a lot of kids."

To no surprise, this didn't go down too well when her post was named and shamed by a yard sale Facebook group with more than 8,000 members, according to Jezebel. Subsequently this led to Walls's prompt dismissal.

2. The wheelbarrow killer

When a video of seven Austrian construction workers setting off explosives under a wheelbarrow whilst on the job was shared online in September 2016, things didn't go down too swimmingly. The video has since trended on several Reddit threads, one alone with 23,000 'upvotes', where a comment by a local Austrian states that all workers lost their jobs in the end and winded up facing further legal actions agains them.

As it turned out, their boss had a short fuse (pun intended) for their unsafe antics.

3. Taco 'bout stupidity

Source: CBS Los Angeles

This photo of an unnamed employee licking Taco Bell shells caused quite a stir on social media back in June 2013.

The picture was posted on the on the fast food chain's Facebook feed by a co-worker of the employee seen above, meant for an internal photo contest where employees were encouraged to take the first bite out of the company's new product. However, Taco Bell reps did not find this photo too amusing, expressing that it "violated the rules and spirit of the contest", and was denied from being submitted. Adding to the stupidity, the employee then later posted it on a personal social media page, further violating the franchisee's policies.

The incident lead to the employee being let go, along with the restaurant claiming the shells were "only used for training and were about to be thrown out," CBS Los Angeles reported at the time.

4. Breakfast of non champions

As recent as July this year, a Victorian truck driver recorded himself having "breakfast" of what appear to be illegal drugs in the cabin of a big rig - all whilst wearing his transport company's polo shirt. The footage found its way onto a Facebook page popular with truck drivers, which the driver then begged to be taken down.

Regardless, the damage was already done and the video went on to make nationwide headlines, shared and shamed by the likes of The Today Show.

Unsurprisingly, the two parties went their separate ways.

5. Zero likes for this 'insensitive' Instagram post

Source: abc NEWS

A single Instagram photo posted by Katie Duke caused her to lose her job back in July 2014, as an emergency room nurse at New York Presbyterian Hospital. The photo Duke posted showed a messy but empty trauma room that had been used to treat a man, hit by a New York City subway train, which Duke captioned with the distasteful hashtag "#Manvs6train".

Not long after, Duke received a call from the hospital, telling her she was fired from the position she had otherwise previously held for 7 years. The hospital told her she wasn't getting fired for violating any privacy regulations. "I was told I was being fired for being insensitive," she told abc NEWS.

6. The final nail in the coffin

In May earlier this year, a video made its way to the streaming website LiveStream by username 'Someaussiedude', showing a man recording himself whacking his colleague on the head, right before his colleague then fired back at him with a nail gun, lodging a nail into his left arm.

Scott Cam, well known for The Block, weighed in at the time after watching the clip during a A Current Affair segment regarding dangerous workplace pranks on sites.

"It could've gone pear shaped, it could've been in the eye," he said. "It's a three inch nail gun and they've got plenty of power."

No reports have been found whether or not the workers involved in the video were in fact dismissed, however, it's not hard to tell that if this kind of reckless behaviour continued, it could lead to the final nail in the coffin for their jobs.

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6 People Who Were Fired for Social Media Posts | Smith's Lawyers Blog

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We've all posted something on social media that we've later regretted. Maybe it was a questionable joke? Or perhaps a photo or video that we had initially thought was funny? Most of the time, our senses kick in and we wind up deleting the post before anyone even notices.

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It is likely that many, if not all, of your employees, use social media. Many of their profiles will have references to their job somewhere on their page or throughout their account history. Often, employees positively use social media. For example, they may use Facebook to advertise jobs at your company, share an Instagram story of the food platter they made to raise money for charity at work or even send a Snapchat of their work attire for the day. However, some employees may create and share content that is not positive and may be to your company's detriment. What happens if your employee has made a comment on social media that paints your business in a negative light or does not align with your company's values? This article explores how employers can deal with such behaviour.

The Linfox Case

In the 2012 case of Linfox Australia Pty Ltd v Glen Stutsel, Fair Work Australia (FWA) agreed with the first FWA decision in 2011 that the termination of Mr Stutsel was an unfair dismissal. Mr Stutsel argued that he was unfairly dismissed because his position was terminated after he made an inappropriate comment on social media about his colleagues.

FWA decided that Linfox's dismissal of Mr Stutsel was unfair because:

the employee did not understand that his Facebook had limited privacy settings turned on;

the employee had worked at Linfox for a long time and had otherwise not shown any other negative behaviour;

other employees commented on Mr Stutsel's post yet were not treated in the same way as Mr Stutsel; and

Linfox did not have a social media policy in place.

Therefore, if an employee makes a negative social media comment or post about your company, you cannot automatically terminate them. Instead, you must undertake a thorough and procedurally fair disciplinary process before making a decision to fire the employee.

Social Media Policy

A social media policy is imperative to clarify your organisation's expectations for your employees. FWA's stance in the Linfox case should act as a reminder for all employers to prioritise such a policy.

The FWA criticised Linfox's lack of a social media policy:

"In the current electronic age, [a lack of a social media policy] is not sufficient and many large companies have published detailed social media policies and taken pains to acquaint their employees with those policies."

There are three points we can take from this quote:

1. it is essential for your business to have a social media policy;

2. the policy must detail what your company expects of employees regarding their social media use; and

3. the policy must also cover the consequences of:

breaching the policy; and

not meeting your expectations regarding social media use.

A well-drafted social media policy should address the following questions:

When does work stop and personal life start? The policy should include terms ensuring your employees cannot post something negative the minute they clock off work, even if they think that no one from work can see the comments.

What sort of conduct is and is not acceptable? Use examples in your social media policy.

What disciplinary measures are in place when an employee breaches this policy?

You must "acquaint" your employees with your policies. Policies should be:

referred to;

relied upon; and

easily accessible by employees.

You should also ideally conduct training to educate employees about acceptable behaviour.

Firing an Employee

Can you fire an employee because of a comment on social media? The answer is not necessarily. You may have a strong social media policy in place that clearly sets out your expectations of employee social media conduct. However, an employee may still breach the policy.

If there are legitimate grounds, you can commence a disciplinary process which may lead to terminating an employee for a valid reason.

Key Takeaways

Having a social media policy in place to acquaint your employees with your expectations is imperative. It is the first step to minimising the risk of employees painting your business unfavourably on social media. Instead of immediately firing an employee after a negative comment on social media, you should follow the steps in your social media policy.

If you have any questions or need advice drafting a social media policy or dealing with an employee's unfair dismissal claim, get in touch with LegalVision's employment lawyers on 1300 544 755 or fill out the form on this page.

( Read all articles by Jessica)

Jessica is LegalVision's first point of contact for clients with employment needs, as well as regulatory and compliance enquiries.

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Firing an Employee Due to a Comment on Social Media | LegalVision

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It is likely that many, if not all, of your employees, use social media. Many of their profiles will have references to their job somewhere on their page or throughout their account history. Often, employees positively use social media.

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How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s Life

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How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s Life

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How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco's Life (Published 2015)

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The unique 21st-century misery of the online shaming victim.

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When Rachel Burns posted a photo of a singalong at work on her Facebook page, she had no idea that her actions would end her career. The BBC's Laurence Grissell has been following her story for the past year.

"I absolutely loved my job. It's my vocation, I love caring for people," Rachel says.

For 21 years, until December 2015, Rachel worked at Park Hall, a residential care home for elderly people and vulnerable adults in Reigate, southern England.

She'd started there as care assistant, and worked her way up. She'd been the manager for the last eight years.

"There were always activities going on. I wanted the clients to have a decent quality of life."

One of the activities that Rachel organised for the residents at Park Hall was a regular music night, every Friday.

"We'd put flowers on the tables," Rachel says. "The residents would all get dressed up and we'd have a different supper every week."

As a keen amateur singer, Rachel would perform at the music nights, everything from Roberta Flack and Nina Simone to Boney M.

"The staff would get up dancing with the residents. You'd see smiles on their faces - it really was such a lovely thing to see."

One Friday Rachel returned home after music night and decided to share some of the special moments from the evening online.

"I was quite elated at how the night had gone," Rachel says. "I posted the picture thinking that it would just be seen by a few people, mainly staff, on Facebook."

But two months later Rachel got a phone call summoning her to head office.

"As soon as I got there, when I saw their faces, I knew I was in big trouble."

Rachel had done four things wrong. She'd posted the photo on Facebook, she'd identified a Park Hall resident in the photo - a man with Down's syndrome who, eager to be photographed, had jumped into the shot beside her - she had also posted a video of the music night, and she was Facebook friends with a relative of one of the residents.

Should I really have had my career of 21 years taken away for one mistake?
Rachel Burns, Former care home manager

These were all breaches of Surrey County Council policy. Two days later Rachel was suspended from her job.

From the word go, Rachel held her hands up and admitted all the council's allegations but nonetheless wanted to appeal against their decision.

"I know I shouldn't have put that picture up there, but should I really have had my career of 21 years taken away for one mistake? I wanted justice because I didn't believe what they had done to me was fair."

Find out more

Rachel lost her appeal and was given just two days to decide whether she would accept demotion - with a significant pay cut - or face dismissal. She asked for extra time to consider her options, but the council refused. Instead, Rachel, who by now had been signed off with stress and anxiety, received a telephone call demanding that she come to a decision immediately.

"I said, 'I'm off work sick, my doctor doesn't feel I can make such a life-changing decision at the moment.'"

But Rachel was told if she didn't accept the demotion she would be dismissed from her £45,000 a year job, with immediate effect.

"I got a letter the next day which said, 'I'm sorry you have decided to accept dismissal.' And that was it."

Claire Pooley's brother is the Park Hall resident in the photo that Rachel posted on Facebook.

Claire says her brother loves to be the centre of attention and loves to share photographs of himself with the rest of his family. The Friday music nights were the highlight of his week.

"He loves singing and dancing," Claire says, "Rachel and the guys allowed him to just blossom on a Friday evening.

"The moment we walked in the door we knew Park Hall was a special place," Claire's husband Graham continues. "The atmosphere, the culture and the behaviour - people were happy there and had a lot of stimulation."

The couple say that the Park Hall staff always encouraged Claire's brother to get up and sing at the music nights.

None of us had a problem with it - gross misconduct or not
Claire Pooley, Relative of Park Hall resident

"He would practise and get ready for it - although he sang the same three songs every week," Graham says. "We loved watching him - it brought him alive, it was wonderful."

Neither Claire nor Graham feel that Rachel should have been fired for posting the photo of Claire's brother.

"None of us had a problem with it - gross misconduct or not," Claire says.

"After 21 years is it appropriate to sack the manageress who's created a culture and environment at this special home in the way that they have?" asks Graham. "The answer is no, it's not."

It's autumn 2016 and Rachel has decided to take Surrey County Council to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal.

"They have to understand that this is my life that we're talking about here," she says.

"I want my career back."

A preliminary hearing date is set for early November.

But she can't afford any formal legal representation and so is planning to face the council's barristers with only the help of her close friend, the Reverend David Walford, a retired healthcare chaplain who's never done anything like this before and admits he's out of his comfort zone.

"I'm very happy to stand up in front of people," David says. "What I'm not sure of is facing people who have had a lifetime's career in legal work."

David was at Park Hall on the evening that the photo was taken. Like Rachel, he's a singer and would perform at the Friday night music shows.

"I've seen a lot of care homes in my time as a parish clergyman and as a hospital chaplain. I knew the difference between what I'd usually see and Park Hall. Care with love, not care out of duty - that's what Rachel was giving. The thought that Rachel was being taken out of that actually brought me to tears."

Care with love, not care out of duty - that's what Rachel was giving
Rev David Walford, Retired healthcare chaplain

To make matters worse, Rachel's husband Gary is very unwell.

"He's had the brain tumour for four years," Rachel says. "He was very healthy, but he walks with a stick now."

Not only is Gary unable to work, but without a reference Rachel can't find a new job. She and Gary are racking up huge debts living off their credit cards, but she hopes her money worries will be sorted out once the case is resolved, with any luck out of court.

Two weeks before the date of the preliminary hearing Rachel is doing an unpaid gig at a local pub. She's on stage singing Stuck In The Middle With You by Stealers Wheel and urging the punters to get up on the dance floor.

"It's just so much stress, it's crazy," Rachel says later, "which is why nights like this are brilliant, just to let off some steam."

The day of the preliminary hearing in Croydon arrives. Rachel, who always believed the case would be settled out of court, says she never thought in a million years it would come to this. She's nervous.

"I've got to stand up against one of Surrey's senior solicitors to defend myself when I made one mistake in a 21-year career. They have crucified me."

The judge sets a date for a full hearing, but it's seven months away, at the start of June.

Then, out of the blue, towards the end of December, Rachel receives a settlement offer from the council. For a couple of days, she considers accepting the £7,500, before having a change of heart.

"It was a joke, an absolute joke," Rachel says. "And it's not even about money now, it's about showing them for what they are."

With the case dragging on, Rachel is really feeling the strain. She is anxious and depressed. So much is at stake - by now, she and Gary are in dire straits. Their debts are mounting, and they're seven months in arrears with the rent on the house in Reigate that they share with their border collie, Bramble.

"We are scraping pennies, literally pennies," she says. "It's never-ending, it never goes away.

"All I did was put up a picture of a client enjoying their life in the care home that I loved working in," she says, beginning to cry.

By June 2017 the couple are at breaking point. They have no money in the bank and no savings to fall back on. Rachel is fearful that they're going to lose everything, including the roof over their heads.

"It just goes to show that when you think you have everything it can be snatched away from you just like that, for one mistake," she says.

I've had to watch my wife slowly falling apart, because of what they've done to her
Gary Burns, Husband

The trial is taking its toll on David, too. He's exhausted. "This case has just become monstrous," he says.

Two days before the tribunal is due to start Rachel decides that she's packing it in, she can't go on. Her husband Gary pleads with her for almost three hours not to walk away now. This isn't the first time Rachel's doubted the wisdom of continuing with the case.

"This case has destroyed her," Gary explains. "She has no confidence any more, she doesn't sleep any more, we argue much more now. It's been disastrous.

"I've had to watch my wife slowly falling apart, because of what they've done to her."

Finally, in early June, in a rundown corner of West Croydon, Rachel's employment tribunal gets under way. She has given evidence and a number of witnesses have spoken and been questioned. But two days into the proceedings the judge has to adjourn the hearing when Rachel becomes very distressed.

"It just got too much," she says. "I thought, 'You've broken me to the point where I don't have the self-esteem at the moment to go back into management.' And it's such a shame. I said I was sorry, I told the judges the absolute truth."

The case finally concludes but without any decision. Rachel will have to wait another seven weeks for an answer.

It's the beginning of August 2017, nearly 20 months since Rachel was first suspended from her job, and she has some exciting news.

"I won! Oh, my God, I won!"

The court has upheld her claim of unfair dismissal.

The judge decides that Surrey County Council's decision to demote Rachel was within the band of reasonable responses, given that she'd admitted the allegations against her.

But she concludes that the timescale the council gave Rachel to decide whether she would accept redeployment or face dismissal - just two working days - wasn't long enough. This procedural aspect, she says, was a fundamental flaw.

"Justice has prevailed!" Rachel says. "It's amazing that if you believe in something and you know your worth you just keep going. You keep going, and going and going."

But Rachel will have to return to the employment tribunal on 13 November for a remedy hearing at which the court will decide how much she should be given in compensation. She has no idea how much that's likely to be but fears that the sum will be reduced because she admitted the allegations against her.

She and Gary now have debts to the tune of about £50,000 and are 14 months in arrears with their rent, and although Rachel now has a reference from Surrey County Council, it states that she was fired for serious misconduct, so the prospect of her finding work is still uncertain.

"As a manager myself I wouldn't look very favourably on that candidate," she says.

Despite the win, going back to work will be a struggle. Before losing her job two years ago, Rachel had been signed off with stress, and she still suffers from anxiety and depression.

Meanwhile the job she loved has gone forever. Park Hall closed its doors on 30 June as part of Surrey County Council's plans to shut down all six care homes it owned and ran. The residents were rehomed.

"I really loved Park Hall," Rachel says. "It was like a family to me more than going to work."

More from The Untold
Text by Sarah McDermott, photographs by Phil Coomes

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When Rachel Burns posted a photo of a singalong at work on her Facebook page, she had no idea that her actions would end her career. The BBC's Laurence Grissell has been following her story for the past year. "I absolutely loved my job. It's my vocation, I love caring for people," Rachel says.

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I went to college in California, and graduated almost five years ago. The job market when I got out of school, as you can imagine, was pretty grim. It was 2011, and I was scared my marketing degree wasn't going to get me very far. I applied for jobs while living in a small town for an entire year before I got something. In that time, I kept myself afloat and saved money by waiting tables at a local restaurant. Thanks to the money I put away, I was in a perfectly good financial place when I moved to LA to take my first job. I was an assistant account executive, which is a solid entry-level job, making $35K/year. And I was THRILLED. I already knew how to manage money, my rent wasn't too insanely expensive, and I had finally landed a post-grad job.

Fast forward two years, and my job was going really well. I was with the same company, I'd been promoted once (which came with a title bump), had gotten two raises, and was making somewhere in the low $40,000s. Around this time, my boss asked me if I'd liked to be pulled in on a new client pitch. This is generally a BIG step for a more junior person, because if you're instrumental in bringing on an account, it is likely to get you a spot on the new team, and you just generally have more clout around the office. Of course, I said yes, and we went to work.

I cannot explain to you the amount of money advertising agencies spend on pitches. Thousands and thousands of dollars go into these things. The client meetings, the dinners, and the superfluous activities that come into play when wooing a client are over-the-top. It really is like Mad Men. And the amount of money they spend dolling up the agency for when clients walk in is insane. We're talking everyone in the agency (a few hundred people) each with something client-related on their pristine desks. Even the parking spaces get fancy, client-friendly signs, and I swear, sometimes they send the most attractive person on the team to greet the client at the door. When I say they bring out all the stops, I mean it.

Anyway. We won the pitch. It was a big deal. I had been part of the pitch team, and even though my role wasn't anything senior, it was still prominent enough. And my position had great potential for upward mobility. The fact that the new clients already knew me, and that I helped bring in their business, was looked very favorably on by the client, by HR, and by my boss. The win was good news for my career.

We had a party at our agency to celebrate the win and I instagrammed a picture of the party. And in plain sight, prominently featured in the middle of the Instagram post, was a big sign with the logo of our new client. In theory, I knew it was a problem even before posting it. I knew that our success was NOT fit to print yet, and I knew how high the stakes were. The head of the pitch team had been sending around emails for three days to not post anything to social media, which is especially important, because reporters who work for advertising publications follow a lot of advertising executives on Twitter, and a bunch of creatives have a lot of Instagram followers. And even though I didn't have notable followers, I didn't need to be told that the company policy mandated that we do not release any information on social media until PR handled the official announcement. But in the moment, with the excitement of winning, and the inflated knowledge that my career was on the rise, I figured, what's the harm in posting a picture - and not even mentioning the new client in the caption - to my 200 followers? I figured a few people at the agency would see my humble brag, but no one of note would. And furthermore, the clients didn't follow me on Instagram.

Needless to say, one of my coworkers showed the photo to the head of our in-house PR team, and three hours later, I was in an office meeting with her, an HR representative, and my boss. They thanked me for my work, but said my social media post was in a direct violation of my contract, and I could have botched the public announcement of our huge new client, and ruined all of our hard work leading up to the pitch.

And they weren't wrong. While a reporter never found my post before it was taken down, my company had said numerous times that we could not leak the information before it was formally announced, and had the client found out about the post (which they never did), the consequences could've been even worse. It's funny how I was high-and-mighty enough to think that the rule book didn't apply to me. But it did. It really, really did. And two years into my career at the agency, coming off what could've been a big break for me, I learned what it was like to get fired. And it was more terrible than I can put into words, even two years later.

At the end of the day, I still got lucky. I wasn't wrongfully terminated, and I know it. They were in the right, and what I did was vain and showed very little forward-thinking. My boss and I kept in touch, and he agreed to give me a positive recommendation when I needed one, even though he would have to disclose my wrongful action.

Looking for a job when you have to admit you were fired from your last job makes it a lot harder. Luckily, I had made good connections at other agencies, and I had an emergency savings account. (It wasn't six months of living expenses, but it was about three, and I picked up a lot of babysitting work while I looked for a new job, and collected unemployment.) It took me four months to get a new job, and thankfully, I side hustled enough in that time to still have almost $1,000 left in my savings when I took a new job. I was insanely fortunate to get the same title and almost the same salary (it was $4k less) at my new job. But my mistake still cost me a promotion, took away all my hard work, completely killed my "big break" and left a huge strike mark on my resumé. I've now built my emergency fund back up, and my new job has been going well. I'm rebuilding my reputation, and trying to leave the past in the past, while not forgetting the lesson: if you're not sure whether to post, or not to post, choose the latter.

- Ally

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The Financial Confessions: "I Lost My Job Over A Social Media Post"

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I went to college in California, and graduated almost five years ago. The job market when I got out of [...]

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By

Sticks and stones may break bones, but 280 characters can do a whole lot more damage.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit against Elon Musk last week, arguing that he misled investors when he proclaimed on Twitter in August that he was considering taking Tesla private and had secured the funding to do so. Other reports have suggested that the Department of Justice is investigating Musk for potential criminal charges regarding his tweets.

Under an agreement reached with the SEC over the weekend, Musk agreed to relinquish his role as chairman, but keep his role as CEO. Musk and Tesla will each pay a $20 million fine to investors who lost money. "This was yet another slap on the wrist from a regulator that lost its teeth years ago," MarketWatch columnist Howard Gold wrote Monday. It's also a lesson that tweeting can be a painfully expensive pastime.

This is far from the first time that a celebrity or popular business figure has caused a company to incur a significant loss with a tweet. In February, Kylie Jenner, star of E!'s "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" and a fashion empire mogul in her own right, tweeted that she was over "Sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me... ugh this is so sad," Jenner tweeted to her 24.5 million Twitter followers. Jenner, regarded by her fans as an arbiter of what's hot and what's not, was heard. Her tweet was liked 320,000 times. The following day Snapchat stock dropped 6%, or $1.3 billion in market cap, also in part over its decision to redesign its interface.

While Twitter can be a powerful social-networking and marketing tool, hasty or erroneous posts on the site sometimes get pretty expensive. Misfired tweets have ended careers, led to huge fines, and even impacted the stock market. When the Associated Press account was hacked in 2013, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 145 points. A tweet appeared around 1 p.m. on April 23 of that year saying: "Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured." The AP deleted the post and suspended the account.

Photos are not included in the character count. That also cuts both ways. In 2016, University of Mississippi offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil - who was widely expected to be one of the top draft picks this season - slid to 13th at the NFL Draft after a video of him smoking a substance from a bong appeared on his Twitter profile just moments before the draft. He quickly deleted his account, but it was too late.

Based on the 2016 NFL projections, that tweet likely cost him as much as $10 million, making it possibly the costliest Tweet ever: No. 1 could earn $28.65 million for a four-year contract versus $12.45 million for 13th (although the position plays a role in the contract value too). There was also a $10 million-plus difference between first and 13th place in 2016. Tunsil was picked by the Miami Dolphins. (His agent said his account was hacked.)

The problem with Twitter, aside from such obvious security issues, is that immediacy and informality - the site's greatest strength - are also its greatest dangers. And in many cases, there's no turning back once you hit "tweet." Attempts to delete tweets are often too late. Millions more of these brief musings will live on for posterity when screenshots are taken and posted online, and, yes, retweeted too. "Public tweets are a public and permanent record," says Daniel Post-Senning, great-great grandson of the grand dame of etiquette Emily Post.

Here are five more regrettable tweets - and the estimated hefty price tags that came with them:

Anthony Weiner tweets away his career

Price tag: $174,000 salary, dreams of being mayor

lev radin / Shutterstock.com

Anthony Weiner, the former Democratic congressman for New York, last year began a 21-month prison sentence for sexting with a minor. But he first resigned in June 2011 after sending a sexually explicit photo of himself to a college student over Twitter. At first, Weiner claimed that his Twitter account was hacked, telling reporters he was the victim of a "prank." While he lost his $174,000-a-year job - the standard salary for members of both the House and the Senate - he also walked away with the equivalent of around $1.2 million in retirement benefits after just a dozen years in office. Before his prison sentence, Weiner worked as a media pundit, political analyst and blogger, and had an unsuccessful run for mayor of New York. His Twitter account @repweiner hasn't been active since July 13, 2014. His bio reads: "This here thing is dormant. Sleeping. Maybe dead."

NBA fines tweeting team owners

Estimated price tag: $525,000

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban / Reuters

The National Basketball Association has fined team owners thousands of dollars for tweets. In November 2011, Miami Heat owner Micky Arison was fined a reported $500,000 for commenting on the player/trade union bargaining process, which is a no-no for a team owner, according to NBA rules. In 2009, it fined Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban $25,000 for using Twitter to publicly criticize officials after the Mavericks lost a game against Denver. The Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks did not comment. A spokesman for the NBA, says both parties were fined, but declined to confirm the specifics. "You're accountable for what you do on Twitter just as if you put up a sign in the main street of your town," Post-Senning says.

Spirit Airlines ad blast for $9 fares

Getty Images

Spirit Airlines tweeted about $9 one-way tickets from Los Angeles in June 2011, but failed to mention the additional taxes and charges in its brief 140-character ad blast. In November 2011, the Transportation Department fined the Florida-based airline $50,000 for deceptive advertising practices. The taxes and fees were disclosed on the airline's website, but only after clicking on a second link. (Spirit did not respond to requests for comment.) At the time, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement: "Consumers have a right to know the full price they will be paying when they buy an airline ticket. We expect airlines to treat their passengers fairly, and we will take enforcement action when they violate our price advertising rules."

Fired for tweeting an opinion

Estimated price tag: Future earnings

Rob Wilson / Shutterstock.com

Everyone is just one tweet away from being fired. In 2010, a 20-year CNN veteran, Octavia Nasr - then a senior editor covering the Middle East - was fired after sending out a tweet saying she had respect for Shiite Cleric Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah. It read: "Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah. One of Hezbollah's giants I respect a lot. #Lebanon" During his lifetime, Fadlallah was a vocal critic of U.S. foreign policy and supported suicide bombings against Israel. Nasr apologized for her tweet and said it was an error of judgment. She further defended Fadlallah because she said he took a contrarian and pioneering stand among Shia clerics on women's rights. (CNN did not respond requests for comment.)

Time has given Nasr perspective on how fast people react to tweets. "The respect I expressed towards a cleric for his contrarian stance on women and for his openness to dialogue with the west, was a professional opinion based on years of in-depth coverage of the region and in my capacity as a Middle East expert and analyst for CNN," she told MarketWatch. "The tweet was taken out of context by an extremist group that waged a hate campaign against me." In such circumstances, journalists often can't respond or fight back until it's too late, Nasr added. "Nowadays, everyone wants to play judge as soon as something surfaces on social media. Reporters and media executives must not jump to conclusions, and they must not fan the flames of hatred or sensationalize stories."

She is founder of Bridges Media Consulting, "a firm that helps businesses and media organizations synchronize traditional and digital strategies," according to her website.

Fired for tweeting 'satire'

Estimated price tag: Six months of earnings

Bloomberg

In December 2013, Justine Sacco, a PR executive for InterActiveCorp , which runs dating websites Match.com and OkCupid , was fired after tweeting offensive comments about AIDS in Africa, before stepping on a plane to go there. The company said at the time: "The offensive comment doesn't reflect the views and values of IAC." Sacco later apologized "for being insensitive to this crisis - which doesn't discriminate by race, gender or sexual orientation." Sacco later said the tweet was intended to be satirical. She spoke to Jon Ronson for his 2015 book, " So You've Been Publicly Shamed," about becoming the subject of a global hashtag #HasJusintineLandedYet. "Of all the things I could have been in society's collective consciousness," she said, "it never struck me that I'd end up a brutal nadir." She resumed working in communications for a fantasy sports site in August 2014.
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securities and exchange commission (usa)

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Elon Musk's tweets cost him $20 million-here are 5 of the costliest tweets ever

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By Sticks and stones may break bones, but 280 characters can do a whole lot more damage. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit against Elon Musk last week, arguing that he misled investors when he proclaimed on Twitter in August that he was considering taking Tesla private and had secured the funding to do so.

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For all intents and purposes, social media is a great thing. It helps you keep in contact with friends and family across the globe, you can find out about all manner of cool stuff going on in your neck of the woods, and you get to be on the ground floor when a person or corporation has a total meltdown. Occasionally, these social media mistakes have led to hasty firings and many people who instantly regretted their tweets and Facebook posts, having lots of time to reminisce, thanks to their newly unemployed lifestyle.

If you're lucky enough, you get to see these social media faux pas and Twitter meltdowns happen in real time. This list is all about those moments when someone put a thought into the digital landscape without realizing that what they said could be read by one important person, or by millions of consumers ready to tear apart their corporate overlords, 140 characters at a time. These posts resulted in people with no job, ruined careers, and a whole lot of time on their hands all of a sudden.

We've all said things that we wish we could take back, and in the 21st century, we've all written things on social media we wish we could delete forever. Most of us are lucky in that our online lives haven't popped up to stab us in the back in the middle of a board meeting or while we're having a dinner with our parents. Most people haven't been fired over Twitter posts or let go thanks to a Facebook photo, but not the people on this list.

These people led normal lives, hated their bosses, and liked to party. The only difference between them and you is that they put something negative on social media and the world sat up and listened. While that may seem like a good thing, the folks on this list didn't think so at the time - most of them lost their jobs, were fired over Facebook, and faced a landslide of mockery that continues to this day.

Who has made the biggest social media mistakes and been fired for social media posts? Read on to find out and let us know about your own Twitter or Facebook blunders in the comments. We promise we won't use them against you.

In June 2018, a CrossFit gym in Indianapolis, IN, canceled a Pride Month workout. Most social media users were enraged, but Russell Berger, an Alabama-based Christian pastor and CrossFit trainer, applauded the gym for its "convictions."

"As someone who personally believes celebrating "pride" is a sin, I'd like to personally encourage #CrossFitInfiltrate for standing by their convictions and refusing to host an @indypride workout. The intolerance of the LGBTQ ideology toward any alternative views is mind-blowing," the tweet from June 6, 2018, read. When Berger faced backlash on Twitter, he defended his response, saying:

The tactics of some in the LGBTQ movement toward dissent is an existential threat to freedom of expression. The lack of tolerance for disagreement, which has been replaced with bullying Twitter mobs promising "consequences", should be a concern regardless of your political stance.

CrossFit was not having any of this. The company went on damage control and quickly tweeted their support of the LGBTQ community and made an official statement declaring Russell was fired.

In an interview with Buzzfeed News, CrossFit founder and CEO Greg Glassman said:

He needs to take a big dose of 'shut the f*ck up' and hide out for awhile. It's sad. We do so much good work with such pure hearts - to have some zealot in his off-time do something this stupid, we're all upset. The whole company is upset. This changes his standing with us. What that looks like, I don't know. It's so unfortunate.

On October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock opened fire on a crowd attending a music festival in Las Vegas, killing 59 people and wounding over 500. The next day, Hayley Geftman-Gold, a vice president and senior legal counsel at CBS, took to Facebook. Calling some of the shooting victims "Republican gun toters," she claimed they didn't deserve sympathy, and said she doubted the "Repugs" in power would "do the right thing."

CBS immediately fired her, and released a statement that read, "This individual, who was with us for approximately one year, violated the standards of our company and is no longer an employee of CBS... Her views as expressed on social media are deeply unacceptable to all of us at CBS. Our hearts go out to the victims in Las Vegas and their families."

Geftman-Gold's comments have since been deleted, and she has publicly apologized.

On August 27, 2017, Kenneth L. Storey, a visiting sociology professor at the University of Tampa, tweeted suggesting that Hurricane Harvey was "instant karma" for Texas voting Republican. He quickly removed the tweet and deleted his account, but the damage was done. The school received a flurry of criticism for the post, and Storey was promptly fired.

Storey issued an apology on the 28th, saying he "never meant to wish ill will upon any group." The university, meanwhile, said it "stands in solidarity with the people impacted by Hurricane Harvey."

Following the London Bridge terror attacks in June 2017, President Donald Trump sent a slew of tweets criticizing London's mayor (who happens to be Muslim). One of his tweets called for a bring back of Trump's "travel ban," which was ruled unconstitutional by several federal courts.

CNN host (and former religious scholar) Reza Aslan tweeted in response, calling Trump a piece of shit. CNN subsequently decided to cease production of Aslan's show. He tweeted an apology, saying he was angered by Trump's tweet and responded with uncharacteristic anger.

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25+ Careers That Were Ruined By Social Media Posts

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For all intents and purposes, social media is a great thing. It helps you keep in contact with friends and family across the globe, you can find out about all manner of cool stuff going on in your neck of the woods, and you get to be on the ground floor when a person or corporation has a total ...

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A women loses NASA internship after swearing on social media

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A women loses NASA internship after swearing on social media

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What you tweet or share on Facebook and Instagram could land you in hot water or with a criminal record - and in some cases even get you fired.

In yet another unfortunate example of how not to behave on social media because your prospective employers might hold it against you or fire you, a woman was recently fired for using foul language when she tweeted "Suck my d*ck and b*lls" to Homer Hickam, a NASA engineer, veteran and author, Buzzfeed.com reports. Basically a legend within the space sector.

Naomi H's initial tweet expressed a tremendous amount of excitement because she was given the prestigious work opportunity. The furore first started when she tweeted "Everyone shut the f*ck up. I got accepted for a NASA internship."

The tweet went viral, but it took a negative turn when Homer Hickam chastised her for her use of foul language. In response to his tweet, she told him to "Suck my d*ck and b*lls.

Social media has been pretty divided on this one.

On the one hand people have been criticising Homer for tone policing, but on the other hand, many have criticised Naomi because of her lack of decorum and unprofessional response to a respected legend in the field, as well as the fact that she didn't know who he was.

Interestingly enough, it turns out Naomi and Homer worked things out and that she wasn't fired because NASA saw Homer's response; in fact, Observer.com reports that Homer set the record straight in a blog post and revealed that he wasn't bothered by her language usage, but he was worried that his superiors might be.

And it turned out that he was right. Buzzfeed adds that Homer mentioned in his post that long after his tweets were deleted, her posts actually got the attention of the hiring agency because of the hashtags that were posted by friends.

READ MORE: Are DMs and retweets a creative new way to apply for jobs or get funding?

In fact, he also goes on to add that he's trying to help her get a position back in the field.

But of course, this brings in the debate again about how careful people should be when they're posting content online. While this situation has the potential to have a happy ending, it's not the case for others.

Here on our own shores, Adam Catzavelos is currently dealing with the fallout over his racist video that recently went viral.

While you're an individual on platforms like Facebook and Twitter, there is an unspoken rule that your employer or prospective employer views your activity reflected as a representative of the company's brand.

Anything they construe as being damaging and that affects them is going to make them think twice about hiring you or having you remain in their employ.

But Naomi and Adam aren't the first people who've been fired because of their social media (and somehow we doubt they'll be the last) - the 10 people below prove that ill-thought tweets or video posts had awful consequences.

This Glee extra decided it would be a great time to showcase her fifteen minutes of fame by tweeting a major spoiler for the musical series' Prom King and Queen episode.

The producer hit back and it's safe to say her fifteen minutes of fame were decidedly short-lived.

Who could forget the estate agent who caused an uproar after her post on Facebook, in which she denigrated black people, went viral.

According to City Press, the long-since deleted post resulted in her being taken to court where she was found guilty of crimen injuria and subsequently fined R150 000.

3. Defamation is not a cute look

You don't have to go viral in order for you to get fired. You apparently just need to be friends with your co-workers and post inflammatory remarks about your boss.

In a case reported by The Mail & Guardian back in 2009, an administrative clerk at a clothing factory was fired after he was reported by a co-worker for a Facebook post in which he called his boss a "serial masturbator."

Bad-mouthing your boss is never a good look but slandering your boss based on your opinion is even worse.

4. Caitlin Davis

A New England Patriots cheerleader got booted off the squad after a rather distasteful photograph taken at a Halloween party at Boston College surfaced. The picture featured 18 year-old Catlin holding a Sharpie marker, sitting next to an unconscious party-goer, covered in crude graffiti which included two swastikas!

Needless to say the Patriots were not so cheery about that.
WATCH:14 people fired because of their social media posts

5. Carly McKinney

Let's rather call her Crunkbear, a first-year math teacher at Overland High School in Aurora was suspended after her very controversial Twitter account was discovered. The 24 year old's social media bio read as follows "BearCrunker than most. Stay sexy. Stay high. Stay drunk. Stay free. Stay trippy."

It also features a series of racy tweets and pictures of the teacher semi-naked. Carly claimed the account was meant to be a parody of her life.

However, the board made it clear that staff should not post anything on the internet that they wouldn't want pinned on their classroom blackboard. Carly has since been fired.

READ MORE: 14 times the internet was made a better place

6. Chadwin Reynolds

According to school investigators, school teacher Chadwin allegedly "friended" six female students on Facebook and thought it would be appropriate to comment "This is sexy" on several of their photos.

On one occasion he found a student's number and sent romantic gestures her way.

The 37 year-old made it clear to his fellow friends that: "I'm not a gynaecologist, but I'll take a look inside." Mr Reynolds was dismissed and the Department of Education confirmed that he had been cut loose because of this social-networking scandal.

7. Justine Sacco

No one will ever be able to forget the former Public Relations director's offensive tweet that spawned the hashtag #HasJustineLandedYet.

The tweet, News24 reports read as follows: "Going to Africa, hope I don't get Aids. Just kidding. I'm white!"

Needless to say the welcome she received when she arrived in South Africa following that tweet was decidedly frosty and she was subsequently fired from her position for not only making a racist joke but for making light of the Aids plight in Africa.

It just goes to show that not even those who work in PR are immune to social media fails.

8. Nonhle Thema

The great Twitter meltdown of 2012 which read like a misguided teen's notepad. Nonhle had a lot to say to her alleged "haters" and those tweets landed her in trouble with her employer, SoftSheen-Carson. The TV personality conveniently forgot that once you're the face of something, Dark&Lovely in her case, there are certain standards to be upheld.

9. Mike Bacsik

A Dallas sports radio producer/personality tweeted a rather insensitive racial remark; "Congrats to all the dirty Mexicans in San Antonio." Mike who is a former major league pitcher was suspended at first and then fired after the tweet went viral on national TV.

Note: Racist comments are never funny. Ever!

10. Vicki Momberg

Yet another estate agent who found herself in hot water and the subject of viral scrutiny, although not by her own hand. According to News24.com, Vicki Momberg was found guilty of four counts of crimen injuria following a racist tirade that was caught on camera.

The incident took place after a smash and grab robbery, when police came to her assistance and Constable David Mkhondo, a black police officer found himself at the end of her vicious verbal tirade.

It's also worth noting that News24 goes on to add that this instance wasn't the first time she was charged for being racist. Big surprise there.

Sign up to W24's newsletters so you don't miss out on any of our hot stories and giveaways.

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A woman loses her internship at NASA after swearing on social media

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What you tweet or share on Facebook and Instagram could land you in hot water or with a criminal record - and in some cases even get you fired.

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Toby Young has resigned from the board of a new university regulator after more than a week of criticism over controversial comments he made on social media.

He is a journalist, his views are well known, but the comments he made on Twitter - even though they were deleted - were enough to sink his chances of staying in the job.

If a middle-aged public figure like Mr Young can be unseated by his online presence, how worried should the rest of us be?

Most employers will look at a person's online presence before even selection for interview - let alone the final appointment decision.

Profile checking

Reed is one of the country's biggest recruitment agencies.

Laura Holden, from Reed, says: "Recruiters may review the digital profiles of candidates they're interviewing or looking to hire, as it's a quick and easy way to learn more about the individual."

A recent survey from reed.co.uk found that 43% of recruiters check digital profiles often.

Other surveys show the vast majority, upwards of 80%, look at least once at a candidate's online presence.

And it isn't snooping, it is perfectly legal for a prospective employer - or anyone - to look at whatever they like.

David D'Souza, head of engagement at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), explains: "That's fine - and they can act on what they see - as long as it is not against the law."

He says they need to avoid violating the Equality Act of 2010 - they must not discriminate against people because of a "protected characteristic", which can become clearer online, such as religion, age, ethnicity or disability.

Mr D'Souza, says: "For example, if you looked at me and didn't give me the job because you spotted a disability, that would not be OK, but if it was because of a tweet I sent, that's fine, even if that tweet was within the law."

Privacy settings

For those beginning their careers, what they have done online looms larger when there's little in the way of career experience to guide a new employer, giving new entrants to the job market another major issue to deal with.

One simple step Reed recommends is a quick check of privacy settings to ensure that any private material is available to view by friends or connections only.

It accepts though that it is easy to overshare personal information.

For those whose activities may have spread more widely, there are firms that help people clean up their profiles.

One of them is Reputationdefender.com; its director, Tony McChrystal, tries to warn people before too much damage has been done.

Some of his time is spent in schools, asking sixth formers to start thinking about the potential audience for their online presence: "You have to show them the case study - the good, the bad and the ugly - you come out of university with just a CV. Recruiters need something more."

One of its cases involved a young man who sent a single tweet which attracted a response from a prominent sports personality.

The tweet contained several swear words and the response would also have been offensive to some.

Although there was little else offensive from this person, it came up in every single Google search as the top mention of his name. He felt it was harming his employment chances.

Reputationdefender.com won't identify him, since it has now cleaned up his profile.

Profile cleaning

Mr McChrystal's recommendation is radical. Some might think it takes all the fun out of online activity: "Look at the online presence, Facebook, Twitter, online blog; is there anything there you would not want reading back to you in an interview?

"Is there anything you wouldn't want your Mum and Dad to see? Get rid of anything that does not pass that test."

Then add some in that do, he says: "Start writing in the things that make you the person you want to be - preferably something you are passionate about."

Reed also has similar advice: "Emphasise your strengths and promote your application. Follow important people within your industry and retweet articles to show that you're able to stay current with the latest trends."

Bruce Daisley, the head of Twitter in Europe, Middle East and Africa, says the important thing to remember is that what you say online is exactly the same as what you say in real life.

"There's no separation between the two things.

"And probably one of the most important qualities we can teach kids is the quality of empathy and try to think about the person they're talking about," he told the BBC.

Legal changes

However, for those for whom the challenge of cleaning up their profile is simply too much, the current freedom to browse enjoyed by employers may be about to end.

A radical shake-up of European data protection laws, known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is due to come into force in May 2018.

The CIPD's David D'Souza, says although there is some debate about this, the GDPR focuses on what people intended their information to be used for.

"There could be an argument from an individual that 'that night in Ibiza, or any other activity that could currently compromise your prospects, wasn't meant to be looked at by a future boss and is therefore private.

"It will have to be tested through case law and different organisations are trying to work out what it means but the working party suggests employers will have to be a lot more cautious."

That would not have saved Toby Young. There's little to suggest Theresa May was aware of his tweets before the appointment. His views on life, in any case, are pretty widely known, and his career as head of the new student regulator was ended by a general public outcry.

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Toby Young has resigned from the board of a new university regulator after more than a week of criticism over controversial comments he made on social media. He is a journalist, his views are well known, but the comments he made on Twitter - even though they were deleted - were enough to sink his chances of staying in the job.

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A TEACHER suspended over posting sexy selfies on Facebook has quit telling The Sun: "I couldn't go back."

Lydia Ferguson had a heated row with senior staff over the snaps of her in low-cut tops and showing off her legs.

Pupils rallied around her calling for her to be reinstated after she was escorted out.

But the mum-of-three, 39, said after battling for two months she had to resign.

She said: "After it all blew up I knew I couldn't go back to the school.

"I'm no longer employed there.

"I just don't want the stress of it anymore, my family have been through enough of it.

"It's taken up quite a lot of my life which has been quite hard."

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Lydia worked at the Ousedale secondary, Newport Pagnell, Bucks as a full-time 'learning mentor' helping children with behavioural problems for four years.

Her support role at the mixed secondary school was her first job in teaching.

The Sun told in March how schoolkids said they overheard her getting a dressing down and filmed the eight minute row on their mobiles.

A students' petition called "Get Miss Ferguson Back" got more than 250 signatures.

It accused the 2,000-pupil mixed school of being too prudish.

The main photo showed her revealing her legs, others on her profile showed her cleavage.

One youngster said: "There is nothing wrong with the photos at all.

"We think Miss looks lovely."

Another added: "She is a brilliant teacher.

"She is there to help students who have problems like bullying and stuff.

"She does so much to help us and we're so upset she's been suspended.

"Not a single person thinks there is anything inappropriate about it."

A third pupil said: "All it was showing was a bit of leg."

After we told of her suspension, Lydia said: "I've always stuck to a rule on Facebook and Instagram that if my Grandad, bless his heart, would look at any of my pictures in disgust, I would never post them."

"I'm not worried about my pictures, but it seems some people are."

A school spokesman said: "We confirm that Lydia Ferguson is no longer employed as a member of the support staff and the school has nothing further to add."

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Teacher suspended over 'sultry' Facebook selfies quits after row with bosses

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A TEACHER suspended over posting sexy selfies on Facebook has quit telling The Sun: "I couldn't go back." Lydia Ferguson had a heated row with senior staff over the snaps of her in low-cut tops and showing off her legs. Pupils rallied around her calling for her to be reinstated after she was escorted out.