UPS Wrongly fired Driver for Union Activities but stays fired due to Facebook postings

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UPS fired driver for union activities, social media use - NLRB judge - Reuters

United Parcel Service Inc violated federal labor law when it fired a driver in Pennsylvania for his union activities and criticism of the company on social media, a National Labor Relations judge in Washington D.C. ruled on Friday.

Administrative Law Judge Geoffrey Carter rejected UPS' argument that it would have fired Robert Atkinson for his poor performance in the absence of his organizing and criticism, finding that the company's decisions were "tainted" by its unlawful goal of removing a vocal leader and union activist from the workplace.

UPS Drivers stays fired and no back pay due to Social Media Postings - NLRB Judge

Despite holding that Atkinson’s firing did indeed violate the NLRA, the judge refused to order that Atkinson be reinstated by UPS because of comments he made on Facebook in May 2015 after he had been terminated.

Those Facebook rants including Atkinson calling one manager a “piece of garbage” who “definitely gives off the impression that he’s trying as hard as he can to compensate for erectile dysfunction [smiley face indicated by semicolon and parenthesis].”

Atkinson lodged similar online insults toward another manager whom the ex-UPS employee called a “knuckle dragger” that talks “like he’s chewing on cotton balls and marbles.”

Those comments, Judge Carter concluded, violated UPS’s anti-harassment policy and that he would have been fired for making those remarks.
 

dudebro

Well-Known Member
Any decent lawyer tells you to deactivate all your social media accounts when you start a case. Did he not listen?

I mean, you know you're going to appeal your case, and you fire off a FB rant? Sheesh.
 

oldngray

nowhere special
Any decent lawyer tells you to deactivate all your social media accounts when you start a case. Did he not listen?

I mean, you know you're going to appeal your case, and you fire off a FB rant? Sheesh.

You can't fix stupid.

But I did wonder about the fact he had been terminated before his FB rants so wasn't exactly a UPS employee when he made them.
 

dudebro

Well-Known Member
You can't fix stupid.

But I did wonder about the fact he had been terminated before his FB rants so wasn't exactly a UPS employee when he made them.

Watch the courts long enough and you'll see that within the boundaries of law, the way the judge perceives you has a much larger effect on your cases outcome than most people imagine.

Basically, two parties come to court and lie their asses off, and the judge has to decide whose b.s. stinks less.

Technicalities aside, it's a bad idea.
 

El Correcto

god is dead
1476904482-1476903667321.jpg
 

Overpaid Union Thug

Well-Known Member
So, nowadays an employee can be fired for expressing an opinion about crooked supervisors on social media.... But those crooked snakes cannot be fired for the very actions that make them crooked. And... Wait for it...... Their dishonest actions are likely what they got them promoted in the first place. LOL!


You just gotta love UPS AND our legal system. What a perfect marriage! They are great together!
 

Mugarolla

Light 'em up!
So, nowadays an employee can be fired for expressing an opinion about crooked supervisors on social media.

No. At this company, you can express your opinion, but he went over and above expressing an opinion. Inflammatory? Read his posts.

Other companies will fire you just for expressing your opinion without going overboard.

I remember a cop being fired for posting something about a black guy getting what he deserved.

Be careful what you say. Free speech protects you from the government, not your employer.
 

Overpaid Union Thug

Well-Known Member
No. At this company, you can express your opinion, but he went over and above expressing an opinion. Inflammatory? Read his posts.

Other companies will fire you just for expressing your opinion without going overboard.

I remember a cop being fired for posting something about a black guy getting what he deserved.

Be careful what you say. Free speech protects you from the government, not your employer.
UPS should not be able to fire someone for inflammatory social media posts based on the simple fact that it's not a cardinal sin. But when things get to the point where the case is heard by a federal judge (or any judge for that matter) the risk of getting screwed over by our inept legal system is high.
 

Faceplanted

Well-Known Member
I don't understand people's obsession with social media. Honestly, can they even prove "his" account was actually his?

Without tracing ip records, we should assume social media accounts are all fake. Not the other way around
 
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