The phenomenon of capturing people behaving badly in public and posting it on social media is rampant today. It seems almost every day we see new videos of people yelling racial slurs or engaging in other behavior most of the public deems inappropriate. In addition to leading to sometimes millions of people knowing the names and addresses of those caught on video, this behavior can have severe consequences for someone's economic future. But should it? Should one act - almost always done when the person is not at work cause them to be fired - and in the case of at least one of the people in one of the links below, never to get a job in the same field or at the same level again?

Read the material on the agent's duty of loyalty, particularly the paragraph about "Appropriate Behavior." Look at the links below and, if you would like, any similar stories you can find.

Questions: Discuss when an employer may fire someone for inappropriate behavior and why? Discuss whether you think it is reasonable that employees may be fired for conduct while they are not at work? Be sure to state why or why not. Use factual examples from the links provided or your own and tie your reasoning to those examples. Think about whether it makes a difference if they are in uniform or in some way identified by their behavior as being employed by a particular business, or if that comes to light because people work to find that information out and make it public. Does it make a difference? Why or why not. Finally, should one act - even a truly offensive and inexcusable one - cause a person such dire consequences? Cite your references.

Links:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/inside-online-shaming-viral-infamy/story?id=56200539

The following three Links go together:

1. https://www.boston.com/news/national-news-2/2020/05/26/christian-amy-cooper-central-park-dog-leash/

2. https://www.npr.org/2020/05/26/862838384/an-avid-birder-talks-about-a-conflict-in-central-park-he-taped-and-went-viral

3. https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-viral-video-central-park-karen-christian-cooper-20200708-sd55tsjsrjd6bdzyipjngagiie-story.html

The following two links go together:

1. https://scoop.upworthy.com/a-karen-went-off-on-a-vendor-distributing-pride-flags-at-a-farmers-market-she-was-let-go?fbclid=IwAR0M_NRt3oQOE_gcCNf_IgmtRMLGKes_cTq6vXS3EwqPI6-Sp6pxgRYtAJM

2. https://peninsulaeatz.wordpress.com/2019/01/12/meet-gail-hayden-the-godmother-of-california-farmers-markets/