Jack and Tweets - A Bad Workplace Combination

Just when you think Anthony Weiner has the award for Stupidest Tweets of 2011 all locked up (reminder here), three hill staffers make a solid last-minute entry. NW Daily Marker has the now-infamous tweets that cost three of Washington Congressman Rick Larsen's D.C. staffers their jobs.

Sadly, the three have all deleted their Twitter accounts. Fortunately (for us), the Internet never forgets. The highlights come from "TheRocketship1":

• My coworker just took a shot of Jack crouching behind my desk. We have unabashedly given up on just about all things work related. #D2R
• Dear taxpayers - I hope you don't mind that I'm watching YouTube clips of Nirvana at my government job. Thanks, you're the best.
• I really like DC, but I could have used another day away. The silver lining is that I don't have to see my idiot boss. #smallvictory

"Jack" is presumably Daniels, and "#D2R" appears to be their hashtag for "December to Remember." Something tells me they will remember this December! 

Additional tweets called the Congressman a "pu$$y" and a "selfish asshole," described destroying a work blackberry, and confessed "I'm pretty sure I couldn't pass a field sobriety test right now." I think common sense dictates that you don't tweet about drinking on the job, calling your boss names, slacking off, and wasting taxpayer dollars.

This story provides yet another reason that employers may want to consider implementing a social media policy and strategy. Lastly, a shameless plug for a book I co-authored, which includes a chapter on drafting social media policies and even includes a sample policy: Think Before You Click: Strategies for Managing Social Media in the Workplace.

Image: Public domain photo of Congressman Rick Larsen (work of federal government).

Posted by Philip Miles, an attorney with McQuaide Blasko in State College, Pennsylvania in the firm's civil litigation and labor and employment law practice groups.