Facebook Fury And A Fair dismissal - Teggert v Teletech

A Northern Ireland case which looked at the ever-growing number of issues caused by social networking.

Mr Teggert posted offensive sexual comments about a female colleague on Facebook. These provoked online comments from Mr Teggert's Facebook friends, some of whom also worked at Teletech. This was reported to Teletech and, after a disciplinary hearing, Mr Teggert was dismissed for gross misconduct. The reasons were that the Facebook post amounted to sexual harassment and brought Teletech (named in the post) into disrepute.

Mr Teggert unsuccessfully appealed the decision and brought a claim for unfair dismissal and for violation of his human rights. He lost. Some of the key points of the tribunal's decision are:

Mr Teggert's actions satisfied the definition of harassment; harassment can occur where comments are directed to others; the employer's decision to find Mr Teggert guilty of bringing the company into disrepute was seriously flawed, but he would have been dismissed on the harassment charge in any event, and that dismissal would have been reasonable; articles 8 (right to respect for private and family life), 9 (freedom of thought, conscience or religion) and 10 (freedom of expression) did not help Mr Teggert. He had abandoned his right to make private comments when he posted them on Facebook. Belief didn't extend to belief about another person's promiscuity. Freedom of expression had to be exercised responsibly. This decision isn't binding on UK employment tribunals, but it's a useful indication of the way courts are thinking.

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