It is natural for employees to be upset after being dismissed from a job. Despite the raw emotions a recently terminated employee may have, Louisiana law gives employers wide discretion in their ability to remove employees.
Indeed, it would be naïve to believe that every employer follows the law, and that wrongful terminations never occur, but this does not give employees the right to defame their former employer on social media. Suffice it to say, disgruntled employees may sabotage their own cases through social media rants.
The spirit of the rule that applies during criminal arrests basically applies in employment discrimination and wrongful termination cases. What an employee says can, and will be used against him or her in a court of law. This essentially means that social media posts and emails are discoverable information that can be used in litigation.
This is important because if posts on Facebook or Instagram were consistently made during work hours this information could be used to show that an employee was not performing his or her job,
Indeed, using social media during work hours has become commonplace, but evidence of excessive use during work hours could support the notion that a termination was based on legally enforceable grounds. This, in conjunction with post termination social media rants may not sit well with a jury (or a judge) in the event a dispute goes to trial.
So while a former employee’s disparaging statements may be embarrassing in the short term, it may all work out for the best in the long term for the employer.