OK to Fire Clerk for Facebook Posts about Supervisors

The postal service fired a postal clerk with 31 years of service after becoming aware of posts on her Facebook account, which contained a number of derogatory, mocking statements about her supervisors and the employer. The supervisors disparaged in the posts became extremely upset after learning about the posts and required significant time off work for emotional distress. The employer argued that the postings were grossly insubordinate, had the potential to damage its reputation and had greatly harmed the supervisors. The arbitrator upheld the clerk’s termination, ruling that she was unapologetic, her posts viciously and unjustifiably targeted a manager and were accessible by current and former co-workers as well as the general public [Canada Post Corp. v. Canadian Union of Postal Workers (Discharge for Facebook postings Grievance, CUPW 730-07-01912, Arb. Ponak), [2012] C.L.A.D. No. 85, March 21, 2012].