My coworker in Denver got fired for a joke he made about the company's new logo on his private Instagram

He posted a picture of the logo next to a toilet bowl cleaner brand saying 'spot the difference' and tagged three friends. HR found it two days later and let him go for 'damaging brand image'. I think it's insane to fire someone over a private joke seen by maybe 50 people, but my boss says any public post is fair game. Has anyone else seen a firing over something this small and personal?

3 comments

3 Comments

susan_adams2mo ago

That Denver firing over a private Instagram joke seems way too harsh to me.

hugos462mo ago

Man, that's brutal. I saw a guy get walked out for posting his paycheck stub online, just to vent about low bonuses. It wasn't even naming the company, but someone figured it out. Companies are terrified of anything online now. They'll nail you for the dumbest stuff if it makes them look bad.

hayes.casey2mo ago

Ugh, that paycheck stub story is wild. Reminds me of a friend who got a formal warning just for liking a tweet about unionizing at another company in our industry. The paranoia is real. They're monitoring everything, even stuff that seems totally harmless. Makes you wonder what they're actually scared of.