Apple Employee Fired for Derogatory Comments on Facebook

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Apple is recently becoming more open to employees using social media to promote the brand. But employees speaking against Apple might see themselves getting the pink slip.

Apple maintains its own social media accounts, where it exercises tight control over any updates that go out. Apparently, the company has a policy against employees writing negative comments about the brand, and a retail store employee in the U.K. was at the receiving end of Apple’s ire after posting a negative comment on Facebook.

An employee named “Crisp” posted a supposedly private Facebook comment berating Apple. That particular private post was forwarded by a co-worker to management, which then promptly proceeded to fire Crisp for “gross misconduct.” Said employee appealed with the UK Labour Relations Agency, claiming that the posts made were private, and not intended to be seen by the public.

The labor agency sided with Apple in this case, noting that Apple has “made it absolutely plain throughout the induction process that commentary on Apple products, or critical remarks about the brand, were strictly prohibited.” The tribunal noted that disparaging comments posted on the Internet were “damaging for Apple as image is so central to its success,” and that “Apple successfully argued that it was justified and proportionate to limit this right (of posting) in order to protect its commercial reputation against potentially damaging posts.”

The argument here is that even if the posts were supposedly made in private, these could be easily shared, re-posted or otherwise disclosed by any party privy to the information. In the case of employee Crisp, a friend and co-worker (who is probably not his friend anymore) shared the post with their manager, who decided that the posts can be spread even further through other social media outlets. And the thought of Apple’s employees hating their own brand would be, indeed, hurtful to the company’s image.

Apple does warn employees in advance against commenting on the brand. Apple employees are free to be active on social media sites, although they cannot mention their employment with Apple nor mention the brand.