Facebook Case Settlement Reached

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One of the first of many Facebook related cases sure to mark history was settled yesterday. Dawnmarie Souza appears to be the victor. She is the woman who made negative comments about her supervisor and employer on Facebook and was promptly fired thereafter. The Connecticut company that she fervently wrote about fired her based on its’ employee policies, found to be in violation of labor laws. Like many other companies, this ambulance company sought to make bashing them on social networking sites justifiable grounds for termination. Since settling, the company has loosened its’ grip, allowing employees to communicate more freely about their jobs on the internet.

What is the world coming to? Is there no such thing as free speech anymore? Sure the company may have felt annoyed and publically disrespected by Ms. Souza, but to fire someone for expressing how they feel sounds like an infringement of their right to free speech. Ms. Souza wrote on her Facebook page while she was off the clock, in the privacy of her own home. How dare this company lash out against her because she shared ...
... her opinion about her working conditions and related discontent?

Rather than attempt to investigate and possibly fix the problem, whatever it may have been that sparked her displeasure, the ambulance company decided to fire her for venting through a social network. How cowardly. The company should have contacted Ms. Souza to pacify the tension and strategize a means of reconciliation that would prevent future negative outbursts and garner mutual respect. The company failed to use this opportunity as a learning experience and opted to act drastically without thinking it through. By researching labor laws, this company could have avoided making a rash decision that frankly makes them appear to be deserving of the few choice words Ms. Souza posted on Facebook.

While I understand that the reach of Facebook is widespread at the least, this site should not be used as a tool for stifling speech and your freedom to express your thoughts and feelings, so long as you are not threatening anyone. This case just magnifies the fact that maybe we as a society are betting too much on the power of Facebook. Why has Facebook become such an issue? This social network is used to communicate with friends. If Ms. Souza would have said the same things to her family and friends in person, the company would not have reacted in this way. But then again, they may have never found out about it.

I believe that Ms. Souza didn’t care about whether or not her employer read the messages. She may have felt shielded by her constitutional rights or the fact that she wrote them on her own computer in her own home. Maybe she felt like this was her only avenue for making her voice heard in a pertinent way. I am happy that she has reached a settlement and that this may force companies to take a closer look at their policies and modify rules that are unjust.