Lacoste salesman Wade Groom posted a photo on Instagram revealing his salary, reports the Daily Mail. Two weeks later, Lacoste dismissed Mr. Groom on the grounds that he infringed upon their confidentiality agreement.
We imagine that Lacoste was not too impressed by Mr. Groom implying that his salary was too low, and complaining “it’s only enough to live in a third world apartment with shitty everything”. We also imagine Mr. Groom was none too happy with his salary given he was a top salesman who exceeded one monthly target by 92%.
American workplace laws are well known for giving little to no protection to workers from unjustified dismissal. Were this to have occurred in Australia, an employee may be able to bring an unfair dismissal claim, on the basis that revealing salary is not a valid reason for dismissal, and that the decision was harsh when all circumstances are considered.
In Australia this photo would unlikely be a valid reason for dismissal, unless there was a watertight express term in the employee’s employment contract or a clearly communicated company policy prevented the employee from revealing confidential information, such as salary. Lacoste may be able to argue that Mr. Groom’s post was a breach of the relationship of mutual trust and confidence between parties, but overall, we think that Mr. Groom’s behaviour was not serious enough to be a good reason for dismissal by Australian standards.
As social media becomes more embedded in our lives, we expect to see more cases at the Fair Work Commission examining the role of Instagram, Facebook, and the use of mobile phones at work. Where are the boundaries between personal and professional?
As employees, however, we can all learn an important lesson: don’t risk your job by posting sensitive work documents on Instagram or facebook. While posting a salary might not be a valid reason for dismissal, posts of a different sort might be found to lead to a legitimate dismissal. If you have any questions, or if you recently got into hot water in similar circumstances, we can help, reach out now and give us a call.
