“Facebook Fired”: Legal Standards for Social Media–Based Terminations of K-12 Public School Teachers

The increased use of social media sites like Facebook has had an impact on employees when their behavior on such sites is deemed to be inappropriate by employers. This has led to a phenomenon that the popular press calls “Facebook Fired,” where an employee is fired for personal social media use. Such terminations have significant potential legal consequences. This article examines the current case law related to social media–based terminations within the job type of K-12 public school teachers. We give legal and practical recommendations to teachers who might potentially face such situations. We suggest legislation and give social media policy language recommendations for school corporations. Finally, we call for research examining the perceptions of fairness of such terminations by workers as well as the public at large