Who won this case: Was firing after Google search OK?
April 30, 2008 by Sam NarisiPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Online recruiting
A company gets suspicious of an employee’s behavior. So, with the help of Google, they find out that the guy had been fired for shady activities before. The company fires him, and he sues for wrongful termination. Read the facts and decide – Who won this case?
The facts: After suspecting that an employee had been submitting falsified expense reports, a supervisor confronted him. He admitted to making mistakes but denied any wrongdoing. However, after searching for his name online, the supervisor and HR manager learned he’d been fired from other jobs for similar infractions. Because of that, and some other discipline issues in the past, the company fired him. He sued, claiming they had no right to fire him based on what they found out on the Internet.
The employer said: All the Web search results did was confirm the decision to fire him. The guy had already racked up several infractions, and the findings let the company know that disciplining him again probably wouldn’t have been worth it.
Who won: The employer.
Why: The judge ruled that the employee was fired fairly, because he broke company rules several times. The key was strong documentation – and the fact that the search wasn’t conducted until after the employee violated the rules.
The not-quite answered question is whether or not a company can fire someone based solely on something uncovered through an Internet search. It’s a murky issue, but as this case shows, a good practice is making sure job performance is always the primary reason for letting somebody go.
Cite: Mullins v. Department of Commerce
View all the Latest StoriesTags: firing, Google, searching employees
May 6th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
The Google search was peripheral to the firing. I can’t believe that anyone would fire anyone for what they find in a Google search. First, I don’t know any company or HR that posts employee information on the web to be found on a Google search, so there is a credibility problem if anything is found. When I do back ground checks through our Criminal Records check company, we still have to verify any adverse information directly with the source.
Second, I have Googled my own name on the web. I am amazed at how many times my name got a hit. None of them was me. So even though you have the right name, it may not be the right person.