Over the weekend, while enjoying my tea and krumpets twenty minutes alone in the bathroom free from four screaming kids, I read this story in U.K.’s Daily Mail about a Facebook post from a fast-food chain employee. Shortly after news hit about two police officers gettign shot and killed, she wrote: ‘2 police officers was [sic] shot in hattiesburg [sic] tonight.! [sic].’ The same post include a few emoji (among them, a smiley face and a skull), followed by ‘GOT EM’ and a gun pointed at the words. In a subsequent Facebook post, the employee added, “we can turn this bxtch [sic] into Baltimore real quick.’
The Facebook posts were accompanied by a photo of the employee wearing her work uniform.
So, naturally, it didn’t take long for both the Facebook posts and the ensuing backlash against the fast food chain to go viral. And, on Sunday night, the company tweeted, “This behavior is unacceptable & does not represent our brand’s values & ethics. The franchisee has terminated the employee.”
Ah, yes, the 24/7 world of social media.
Alright folks, I’d like to know how you would have responded. Let’s assume for a moment that the posts were made when the employee was not working. After you make a public statement disavowing the employee’s statement about police violence, because that’s a given, would you:
- fire the employee,
- discipline/counsel the employee (but not terminate),
- nothing else, or
- something else
Take the one-question poll here or hit me up in the comments below. I’ll post the results tomorrow.