Facebook and Internet Privacy

Most of us have heard many strange, almost outrageous, stories lately about individuals who have lost their jobs or faced disciplinary action based on the content of their social networking profiles. The offenders have specifically been placed in the spotlight for their pictures and/or online postings.

A story from November 2009 has been updated with new information, which brings greater exposure to the conflict between internet privacy and freedom of expression. Here is an excerpt of the story reported by CBS Atlanta:

"A former high school teacher is suing a north Georgia school district, alleging she was forced to resign over photos and expletives on her Facebook page. Ashley Payne, 24, claimed the Barrow County school district violated state labor law because she was never told she was entitled to a hearing…Payne resigned Aug. 27 after her principal questioned her about her Facebook page, which included photos of her holding wine and beer and an expletive. She had worked at the school for two years."

(Quote from http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/21573759/detail.html)

Here are a couple of pictures, which were taken in Europe:



They are tourist shots of Payne on vacation in Europe, sitting at pubs and beer gardens. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution (November 13, 2009), of 700 vacation photos, 10 were of her with alcohol. She was also chastised for her use of the word "b***h". The school is referring to when Payne posted that she was headed out to play "Crazy Bitch Bingo", a popular game played weekly at Joe’s On Juniper in Atlanta.

As of today, the deposition was released by Payne's lawyer, which reveals that the cause of all this drama was an anonymous e-mail, supposedly sent by a "concerned parent" who was disturbed by the teacher's photos and use of language. The message composer stated in the e-mail that the photos made Payne "an unfit role model for Barrow students." The principal of the school pushed Payne to resign by falsely informing her that she would be suspended or fired due to the concern of the author of the anonymous e-mail.

Also, Payne was told that the letter indicated that she permitted students to access her Facebook page. Payne said that was impossible since she had tight privacy settings and had never accepted a student as a friend. Payne alleges that she was told to consider resigning rather than face losing her teaching license.

The reason I mentioned this case is that it speaks to the need for society to examine the affects of online social networking, along with how much the content can and should affect people's lives. The teacher involved was engaging in activities after hours, on her own time, on vacation in another country. Another issue is that she was not informed that she was entitled to a hearing. This case is outrageous to me because a teacher's rights were violated; she was pushed to resign due to a letter that was sent from an individual who conveniently chose to remain anonymous. If unknowns have the ability to cause people to lose their jobs base on unfounded claims, then what other powers do they have? I believe that this is an issue of the First Amendment, and needs to be addressed before instances like these get even more chaotic and ridiculous.