While organizations can hold employees responsible for behaviour in the workplace, the perception that employees are not accountable for their social media presence outside of the workplace is changing.

For example, a crane operator at Tenaris Algoma Tubes Inc. posted about a co-worker (a “stocker”), making suggestions of a physically aggressive act and a violent and humiliating sex act that the crane operator claimed could be inflicted on the stocker.

When the stocker heard about the comments, she contacted the company, who investigated the matter and subsequently dismissed the crane operator. The union grieved the dismissal, but an Ontario arbitrator upheld the dismissal, highlighting that the act was in violation of workplace policies and a form of workplace harassment. Research this case and highlight what other companies can learn from this. What policies should organizations consider given this experience? What challenges would an organization have to overcome in order to make the policies you recommend realistic, fair, and legally defensible? LO.1