Fired for Facebook. . .terminated for Tinder: dismissal for social media misconduct in New Zealand

摘要

This article reports the findings of a qualitative study of first instance New Zealand employmenttribunal decisions concerned with employee dismissal for social media misconduct.There are two main findings. The first relates to the legal approach to employeedismissal for social media misconduct developing in New Zealand. Thedecisions show New Zealand decision-makers are following the approach in otherjurisdictions of treating social media misconduct dismissals as involving a balance betweenpublic and private considerations of employment conduct and calculating harmin the employment relationship. However, the decisions do not only track the emerginglegal approach to social media misconduct in employment. The decisions are also arecord of how social media is affecting employment relations within New Zealand.They are not only legal but also social records. The second finding relates to what thedecisions reveal about employment and social media in New Zealand. The sampleshowed something different from other similar studies. In New Zealand, there was alarge cluster of decisions where social media facilitated gender-based harassment. Thisfinding resonates with wider research into New Zealand workplaces that suggests anenduring toxic culture where gender-based harassment is normalized.