FRIEND OR FOE

By Nick Hoban, Justin Cowan, Nick Yeager, and Simona Iskander

Facebook for Businesses

Used to check backgrounds of current or future employees.

Easy way for people to communicate. Allows work to be accomplished without

being in the same room.

Pros

Companies are able to check out a person before hiring them.

Able to make sure there is no hidden history.

Companies can look at photos to see if the applicant does anything illegal.

Pros cont.

Job may require someone who isn’t bias. Open minded No specific views on things (religion, race,

ect.)

May help find out if someone is more/less qualified for the position.

The Downside of Facebook There are a lot of reasons why

employers won’t hire a person. From pictures you post as well as the

ones your friends post. Even the grammar a person uses in a

post can be taken into consideration.

The Downside of Facebook Facebook is being used as a way to

screen perspective employees Employers go through a person’s profile

and judge that person on what they find. They will use what they find to

determine if they are the type of person they want to hire.

Why Employers Disregarded Candidates After Screening Online Candidate posted provocative or

inappropriate photographs or information – 53%

Candidate posted content about them drinking or using drugs – 44%

Candidate bad-mouthed their previous employer, co-workers or clients – 35%

Candidate made discriminatory comments – 26%

Why Employers Disregarded Candidates After Screening Online Candidate shared confidential

information from previous employer – 20%

16% dismissed a candidate for using text language such as GR8 (great) in an e-mail or job application.

Legal Issues Related to Employment and Facebook

Presumption of innocence in the Constitution of US follows from the 5th (No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury), 6th, and 14th amendments.

Legal Issues Related to Employment and Facebook

A person can definitely have a case against an employer if he/she is denied employment base on assumptions from Facebook, if he/she can prove it was the reason for denying employment.

The person in case can hire a lawyer on a contingency fee which usually is 20-25% from the material damages a jury can decide to be paid.

Legal Issues Related to Employment and Facebook

Nothing is private on Facebook in the case of a trial.

In recent months, two state courts have granted defendants access to private photos and comments.

Many employees that have been fired because of the information they shared on Facebook have sued their former employer.

Legal Issues Related to Employment and Facebook

Not many that have been denied employment based on Facebook info have sued the potential employer yet

Beside the 3 amendments in the Bill of Rights that portray this, there is not a legislation to make it illegal yet.

Very soon a bill for networking sites will be proposed.

ETHICAL ANALYSIS How ethical are the employers?

Step 1: Identification of The Facts

Who Did What? “Corporate and governmental [employers]

infiltration of prospective employees [Facebook] profiles and the friends of prospective employees profiles,” to determine if they should employee them or not.

Step 2: Dilemma and Higher-Order Values Involved

Dilemma: Employers are hiring/not hiring people

based on the content post on their Facebooks.

And Employers are tearing through current/ potential employees’ Facebooks, to try and find any vulgar or inappropriate content on their Facebooks.

Step 2: (Continued)

Higher-Order Values Involved: The Higher-Order Value for the employer is

protection of property. In that they want to make sure the person they

hire is not someone who will cause physical to damage to their property or other employees.

The Higher-Order Value for the employee is privacy. Do the employers really need to know their

potential employees’ personal interests listed on their Facebook?

Step 3: Who are the Stakeholders?

Who are the Players in the Game? The players are:

1. The employers1. They do support infiltrating people’s Facebooks

to make sure they do not hire a lunatic.

2. The employees/Potential employees1. They do not support their Facebooks being

infiltrated, because it is their personal material they may or may not want their employer to see.

Step 4: Options that YOU can take

Take it to court Organize a Protest Organize Legal Case against the employers

ORDelete Your Facebook

They are Easy to delete or deactivate They cause procrastination Weird people creep on them anyone, aka Art

Fifer

Step 5: Potential Consequences of your Options

If you take it to court you could Lose a lot of money in legal cases

ORIf you delete your Facebook you could

Drastically hurt your social life Not get tagged in like a million red cup

pictures Be forced to make a Facebook anyway by

your employer

So the Ethical Question being asked here is?

Is it ethical for an employee to: Search an employee’s Facebook? Evaluate their Facebook friends? To Deny them employment based on

content on their Facebook?

From the Employer’s side

Using Facebook prevent you from hiring John Rambo

Or Van Wilder