How to Get Fired, Facebook-Style

So as not to give companies more excuses to kick employees to the curb in this tough economy, we've warned before about watching what you post to your social networking site. After all, MySpace photos have gotten an Oregon mayor recalled, and now a Facebook post about how boring her job was has gotten Kimberley Swann of Clacton on Sea in England fired from her job at Ivell Marketing and Logistics Limited.


Kimberley Swann, 16, came home one day and typical of a 16-year-old, posted what she later called a "throw-away comment" on Facebook. Thing is, while that's what she told the BBC, there was more than one update on Facebook about how boring her job was:

• first day at work. omg!! So dull!!
• all i do is shred holepunch n scan paper!!! omg!
• im so totally bord!!!

Thing is, big deal. The name of her company isn't even mentioned. However, after allowing some of her colleagues at work access to her Facebook page, word got back to her employer, and viola: fired. He told BBC, explaining the firing:

"Her display of disrespect and dissatisfaction undermined the relationship and made it untenable."

Swann had been working as an office administrator, and was taken into the office on Monday and given a note that said:

"Following your comments made on Facebook about your job and the company we feel it is better that, as you are not happy and do not enjoy your work we end your employment with Ivell Marketing & Logistics with immediate effect."

Swann said she was shocked. She noted:

"I did not even put the company's name, I just put that my job was boring. They were just being nosy, going through everything. I think it is really sad, it makes them look stupid that they are going to be so petty.

"I was an office administrator so of course it was boring at first and I knew it would get more interesting. "

Of course, Steve Ivell, who we suppose is the founder, CEO, or whatever of the company, said:

"Ivell Marketing is a small, close-knit family company and it is very important that all the staff work together in harmony.

"Had Miss Swann put up a poster on the staff notice board making the same comments and invited other staff to read it there would have been the same result."

Looking at their site, we read the following on their webpage:

We are one of the few companies in a position to enable you to buy production time in Asia and thus move your production to Asia.

We also offer one stop shopping from China. (sic, should be ,) Tawian (sic)and Vietnam

Besides the fact that they need some spell and grammar-checking on their website, I now see they are involved in (out)sourcing production to Asia (AKA, sweatshops). Aha. No wonder.

Readers, what do you think about this? As Swann's mother, Janette said:

"I think she's been treated totally unfairly. She didn't mention the company's name.

"This is a 16-year-old child we're talking about. She says Clacton is boring but we're not going to throw her out of the house for it."

At any rate, as we said, be careful what you post on sites like this. Arlington, Oregon mayor Carmen Kontur-Gronquist lost her job over photos posted to MySpace (below). Admittedly, hot image, but a big mistake.