Blogging The Law

A British gas exploration company executive was recently fired over information he posted on his personal LinkedIn profile.  John Flexman is pursuing a claim for thousands of pounds against BG Group, a gas exploration company based in Reading, Berkshire, England. Mr. Flexman worked as a Graduate and Development Manager for the company for the past eight years.

Mr. Flexman, like other employees of BG Group, had a profile on the business networking site, LinkedIn. He had loaded his CV on his profile and had ticked the “career opportunities” box as an area of interest.

BG Group contacted Mr. Flexman while he was on vacation in the US and ordered him to remove his CV from his profile.

When Mr. Flexman returned from his vacation, he was sent to an internal disciplinary hearing and accused of “inappropriate use of social media.”

BG Group claimed Mr. Flexman was in violation of its new company policy on conflicts of interest which bans employees from checking the “career opportunities” box.

Mr. Flexman was also accused of making derogatory comments and releasing confidential information on his employer on his profile.

A BG Group representative said that Mr. Flexman was stating what a terrible place this is to work, but what a wonderful job he has done.

Mr. Flexman has countered stating that other employees also have the “career opportunities” box checked and they have not been disciplined and any information he posted was not confidential, but available in the company’s business reports.

The dispute led to Mr. Flexman’s resignation in June 2011.

A hearing at the Reading Employment Tribunal Centre is continuing in this case.

So does Mr. Flexman have the right to post whatever he wants, including ticking the “career opportunities” box, on his LinkedIn profile? Does your employer have the right to demand you remove certain information from your personal profile?

 
photo credit: s_falkow via photopin cc

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