Emergency Dispatcher Fired For Facebook Drug Joke

kaptink writes "Dana Kuchler, a 21-year veteran of the West Allis Dispatch Department, was fired from her job for making jokes on her Facebook page about taking drugs. She appealed to an arbitrator, claiming the Facebook post was a joke, pointing out she had written 'ha' in it, and noting that urine and hair samples tested negative for drugs. The arbitrator said she should be entitled to go back to work after a 30-day suspension, but the City of West Allis complained that was not appropriate. Is posting bad jokes on Facebook a justifiable reason to give someone the boot?"

Comments

no

[dmitrygr]

Probably not, but by the time it's sorted she'll be bankrupt

Re:no

[Keeper Of Keys]

You think the police's job is to protect people's freedoms? You must be Swedish

Re:no

[deKernel]

Congratulations, you just gave three examples of where things turned out groovy. On the flip-side, I will give you examples of where empires have laid waste to populations (both internal and example). Don't believe me, think Hitler, Stalin, Mao just to name a few. Try being a pacifist to a Muslim extremist, and I am pretty sure they will literally hand you your head: think Daniel Pear. Your examples only work because the British are reasonable people. You might not believe that, but they are. When you are on the other side to psychopaths on a mission to cleanse the world of , throwing you your hands is a guarantee of death for not just you, but your family, your clan and possibly your .

Though I understand your goal and applaud your POSSIBLE conviction (I say that because unless you have a 10,000 man army storming down your roads, you can't say for sure what you will do), sometimes an active resistance is a better solution than passive.

Sounds unreasonable

[Tukz]

Maybe they had other reasons, but needed an excuse to lay her off?

Re:Sounds unreasonable

[Ethanol-fueled]

Dana Kuchler, a 21-year veteran

'nuff said. That's a lotta retirement money the get to keep.

Re:Sounds unreasonable

[Capsaicin]

Being so stupid as to say dumb things on Facebook

It wasn't a dumb thing, it was a joke. It was clearly marked as a joke. The physical The "dumb thing" is that the humourless irony-deprived grey flannel dwarf who reported her did not understand it was a joke.

Stop being an apologist for the implementation of a regime of "thought crime." Please stop.

Re:Sounds unreasonable

[oji-sama]

Being so stupid as to say dumb things on Facebook without realising her words could come back to bite her might be good grounds for not employing her in the first place.

I think you'll find that [the Universe/saying dumb things] pretty much covers [everything/everyone]

Re:Sounds unreasonable

[Rysc]

I don't agree that her remarks, joke or not, merit termination, but I do agree that her behavior was stupid.

People need to learn this and learn it well: Whatever you post on the internet is forever and irrevocably attached to you and will be used against you in every way possible. This is not like other, earlier forms of communication because in other, earlier forms of communication remarks were not preserved and were mostly limited to a small set of known recipients.

This is why your internet handle should not be your name. This is why routine anonymity is a good thing for everyone. Yes, her employer acted badly and yes, whoever reported her is a humorless jerk. You cannot build a society on the assumption that there are no jerks and everyone has truth and justice as their primary motive!

Don't post anything on facebook, or any other site, unless you want it to be known by all future employers, the police, all future boy- and girl-friends, your mother, your current or future children, historians attempting to demonize you, etc., etc.. It is no exaggeration to say that what she did was stupid and that she, and everyone, ought to know better. A joke among friends is one thing, a joke to your boss's face is quite another; and (like it or not) when you post on facebook you are talking directly to your boss, and your mother, and the cops, and so forth and so on.

Re:Sounds unreasonable

[krou]

Funny, you just reminded of the Soviet Union, Cuba, and a few other places where people had to watch (and still do watch) what they say because they were never entirely sure whether or not the person they were talking to would be an informer of some sort. It didn't matter if those remarks were not preserved, or limited to a small set of known recipients. You just never really knew, and self-censored what you said.

By claiming her behaviour is stupid, and saying that you should watch what you say unless completely anonymous (what happens if anonymity on the internet is eroded?), you're really targeting the wrong person/party. Her behaviour is not stupid. Her behaviour is perfectly natural in a society that (supposedly) promotes and protects freedom of speech. The real target of your ire and denunciations of stupidity should be the corporate and (in this case) government desire to undermine these freedoms, and promote self-censorship. The real stupid thing here is the idea that she should not be free to say what she wants. As the parent said: Stop being an apologist for the implementation of a regime of "thought crime."

Re:Sounds unreasonable

[Aqualung812]

You can't be fired for things you said on your Facebook page if your page is set to private

You think setting your profile to "private" will make sure that only your friends see your status? That's cute.

Re:Sounds unreasonable

[Securityemo]

Working your life around the assumption that society is, for all intents and purpouses, lawful evil will destroy you in the long run.

Re:Freedom of speech should be a law ;)

[mikael_j]

So I assume she was getting paid for those 16 hours of every weekday (and 48 hours of weekends every week) where she was required to abide by some company "behaviour code"?

Re:Freedom of speech should be a law ;)

[Anonymous Coward]

Businesses should fire people who are too stupid to understand the impact of their actions on their company.

Ah yes, the good, old "you're just a slave after all" argument.

Re:Freedom of speech should be a law ;)

[bickerdyke]

Basically, yes.

My company pays me from 9 to 5 and that does NOT give them the right to invade my live the rest of the time. In return, I will not meddle with their buissness outside office times. What happens at the office, stays at the office, and what happens outside, happens outside. Thats a matter of basic decency.

Of course there is a good measure of flexibility to this rule, but that works both ways. If my boss doesn't mind leaving me an hour early from time to time, the less I mind the occasional overtime.

Re:It all depends on what you mean ...

[Dhalka226]

Well, on the plus side, there's no need to feel bad for her. She's likely to file--and win--a substantial lawsuit against the city for wrongful termination which will not only net her her job back (if she wants it) but also her pension and a decent chunk of change for her troubles.

Such is the power of firing people for no reason and ignoring an arbiter who told you that you did so.

Re:Sounds like the excuse....

[Kjella]

Which makes this whole story sensationalist. It's not like "make a drug joke, get fired", it's "be on the verge of being fired and pile on the straw that broke the camel's back". Nobody really wants to have people in that position for long, either you want the employee to really straighten themselves out or you want them out, no in betweens. There's no goodwill at that point.

The Swedish? Defending freedom?

[mangu]

You think the police's job is to protect people's freedoms? You must be Swedish

I don't think so