Bill Poon, a blogger who lives in Los Angeles, says was fired from his day job for posting a photo in his own personal MySpace profile — a photo of the president of the company where he worked. Bill says he didn't disclose the name of the company or disparage its prez, and says he only posted the image for one week as a friendly joke for co-workers. What makes the story interesting, though, is the fact that the manager who fired Bill described the act as "identify theft," and "a criminal offense," and threatened legal action:
I put it up for a week and left comments for co-workers saying "go back to work" and "good job". Apparently, the humor was lost on the "counsel" (I'm rather flattered that the fate of a lowly burgermaker like me would be determined by a "counsel" I guess my burgers are that damn good) and said that the only recourse was termination. Whoa. (…) The HR says blah blah blah blah and this is actually a criminal offense but they won't press charges. I'm like going o. k? I think I would have been upset if my work was being question but since it wasn't, and its their company, I figure its there perogative to hire and fire who they wish.
Link (via blogging.la)
Reader comment: Anonymous says,
Most statutes that criminalize identity theft require intent to defraud or use of the information for unlawful purposes. In this case, while "stealing" the picture and pretending to be the boss may arguably fulfill one of the elements of the crime of identity theft under California law, there doesn't seem to be any intent to defraud. You can get the specifics of California law by reading California Penal Code 530.5 to 530.8.: Link.
Reader comment: Tor says,
In some states (and it wouldn't surprise me if CA was one of them) off duty (legal) recreational conduct is protected by law. In NY, the Recreational Activities Act made it, "unlawful for any employer or employment agency to … discharge from employment or to otherwise discriminate against an individual in compensation, promotion or terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of … an individual's legal recreational activities outside work hours, off of the employer's premises and without use of the employer's equipment or other property…"
Recerational activites are defined as, "any lawful, leisure-time activities, for which the employee receives no compensation and which is generally engaged in for recreational purposes, including but not limited to sports, games, hobbies, exercise, reading, and the viewing of television movies, and similar material."
Would a satirical MySpace profile of your boss telling people to get back to work count? Probably not in New York, but a California statute may read differently…
Reader comment:
Morgan W. says,
California law sections 96(k) and 98.6 prohibit discrimination against employees for their lawful conduct during nonworking hours away from the employer's premises. Link. Nolo press has a bit on this: Link
