This concerns a worker dismissed following the publication on Facebook of a poem that the employer considered to contain violent, very serious remarks against company managers. Of course, this dismissal was contested before the Arbitration Tribunal.
Here are some excerpts from the poem in question:
“The wind is rising…
[…]
Turning around, I saw that a wind of depravity was rising behind me
[…]
The storm is brewing and you try to demonstrate your strength by taking over the sky.
[…]
It is inevitable that your hands will be blackened with your dark, unprofessional thoughts, just like the blood that stains the hands of an assassin.
[…]
Like the dagger goes to a back, you tried to create a storm to destroy me, but you will all drown […].
[…]
[…] I would take pleasure in seeing you drown in your lies and in your ocean of dishonor.”
Prior to his dismissal, the worker was interviewed, his version of the facts differing radically from that of the employer.
According to him, this text reflected the chaotic state of his personal life and the difficulties encountered with his partner, and in no way concerned the employer’s representatives.
Seized of the dismissal complaint, the Court firstly recalls that there existed between the parties concerned “a hostile climate, conducive to paranoid interpretations” explaining the behavior of the managers feeling threatened.
The arbitrator will uphold the grievance and cancel the dismissal. For the Court, the employer was unable to demonstrate with preponderant proof what he was saying, expressing himself as follows: “If there is a threat [celle découlant du poème] it is vague and imprecise. A threat cannot be ambiguous or vague and requires lexical interpretation work in order to understand it. It must be clear and easily identifiable to achieve its goal.”
Principles to remember
- We can remember certain principles from this funny story arising from a poem published on Facebook:
- Our social media posts are not always private, although the right to privacy is a fundamental right.
- Thus, it will be difficult to demand respect for the right to privacy when publishing personal information on these sites, especially when one’s profile is public or accessible to hundreds of “friends”.
- If a person uses social media to take revenge or damage the reputation of others, they may be sanctioned if it is a matter directly concerning their employer, or even sued for damages, if applicable.
- It is up to the person who believes they are the victim of defamation or harassment to provide proof. And it is not affirming the existence of a thing that makes it exist, as the case in question here demonstrates.
- Finally, we must be careful with what we publish on social networks, since we do not know who will read our comments, and how they will be interpreted.
Me Bernard Cliche, distinguished lawyer
Beauvais Truchon Lawyers
