Rant: My coworker got let go over a joke about the company's new logo

Last month, our company rolled out a new logo and my coworker, Jake, tweeted 'Looks like the intern designed this after three energy drinks' from his personal account. He didn't tag the company, but someone saw it and sent it to HR. They called him in on Friday and said it violated the social media policy about 'public disparagement.' He was gone by lunch. I mean, it was just a dumb joke, but they said it hurt the brand. Has anyone else seen someone get fired for something that seemed pretty minor like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

craig.alex2mo ago

Man, that's brutal. I once got written up for calling our new uniforms "prison chic" in the team group chat. HR said it created a negative atmosphere. My own dumb mouth nearly cost me my job over some ugly polyester pants. Your buddy just learned the hard way that nothing is truly personal online anymore. Companies are terrified of any bad vibe, even a joke.

vera1952mo ago

Actually, it's not about bad vibes. It's about liability. A joke in writing can be used against the company later. They're covering themselves, not just being scared.

gavin2282mo ago

Wait, isn't it more about control than just being scared? They want a totally smooth, risk-free image. Saying "prison chic" makes them look bad if a client sees it, even as a joke. It's less about the vibe in the room and more about how everything can be screenshot and shared. You ever notice how they never care about the actual ugly pants, just that you talked about it?