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Michigan School Employee Fired for Refusing Facebook Access
Kimberly Hester, a Cassopolis, Mich., teacher's aide, was fired from her job at Frank Squires Elementary School for failing to provide employers with her Facebook password. Hester is suing the Lewis Cass Intermediate School District, ZDNet reports. Here are details.
* Hester told the South Bend Tribune that in April 2011 she posted a picture on a Facebook wall of a co-worker with pants around her ankles. Hester says she's not connected with the school on Facebook nor does she list it as her employer.
* A parent at Frank Squires Elementary reported Hester's online activity as offensive to the Cassopolis Public Schools superintendent. Hester's lawyer used a Freedom of Information Act to discover the parent, who did not have students in any classes Hester worked.
* According to other FOIA data collected, the school firewall was taken down and administrators accessed Hester's and the unnamed co-worker's Facebook account. Officials printed several pages from the co-worker's account and highlighted things they didn't like.
* When administrators confronted Hester, she was denied union representation even after requesting it.
* Hester was asked for her Facebook password and told to turn over tape recordings she made of the meetings. When she refused, she received a letter stating "in the absence of you voluntarily granting Lewis Cass ISD administration access to you(r) Facebook page, we will assume the worst and act accordingly," ZDNet reports.
* In another South Bend Tribune interview, Hester says she had been given a 10-day suspension, had benefits terminated and placed on a kind of administrative leave. She opted for unpaid leave so she could collect workers' compensation.
* Michigan House Bill 5532 under discussion in the state House aims to make it illegal for employers to request Facebook passwords from employees and prospective employees. State Rep. Aric Nesbitt, R-Lawton, has contacted Hester to say her case will be included in bill discussion, ZDNet reports.
* Hester is scheduled to meet with arbitrators and school officials on May 24.
Re: Michigan School Employee Fired for Refusing Facebook Access
This is insane. The whole thing - from some parent with no life snooping on random teachers' facebook pages to her being fired for not granting them access to her page.
First, this person is dumbasshit for posting this:
Second, there is nothing you can say that will ever convince me that it is acceptable for employers to demand employees hand over their Facebook passwords. Completely unacceptable.
* Michigan House Bill 5532 under discussion in the state House aims to make it illegal for employers to request Facebook passwords from employees and prospective employees. State Rep. Aric Nesbitt, R-Lawton, has contacted Hester to say her case will be included in bill discussion, ZDNet reports.
I went to college with Aric!
It sounds like there's a lot of issues surrounding this particular case, but demanding FB passwords would be intolerable for me, even if I loved my job.
It's actually against the Facebook terms to provide your PW to anyone knowingly. It's a huge security thing, so they're asking you to break your contract with FB by demanding a password.
This is ridiculous- the most an employer should be allowed to do is ask that their employees a) don't list their employer on FB and b) set their profile private. That is all.