Willie: Cease And Desist
You may have noticed that I didn’t post anything on Monday. That’s because I spent all day at HR dealing with this “cease and desist” letter that I received from my job. I’ll have a response tomorrow. Full text after the jump:
Dear Mr. Turner:
Upper management has recently become aware of the existence of a number internet videos and web posts that contain defamatory content, presumably at XXXXXXXXXXXXXX. While we respect your First Amendment right of free speech, we must refer to the company’s Code Of Conduct, Section III, paragraph A-2.3.5:
“No employee shall, either on working premises (as defined in Section I, C-3.3.3 / Definitions), or in a private capacity that may directly or indirectly cause a casual observer to become aware of the company’s brand; present any defamatory statement orally, in writing, print, digital media, or any other medium that the company deems as publicly accessible. The first of any such action may result in the employee receiving disciplinary action in the form of Probation up to 60 days. Subsequent violations of this policy may result in more severe forms of disciplinary action, up to and including termination.”
Here are some examples of content that we have determined as “inappropriate” per our policy:
- Video dated Aug 9, titled “Meet Willie”, wherein employee creates video recording of himself in work attire with alcoholic beverage. Per company policy, employees cannot appear in company dress while bearing tobacco, alcohol, or any other substances that are not suitable for a professional environment. In the same video, employee makes inferences to current job being “worst job ever”, which could be deemed as slanderous per the company’s Code Of Conduct.
- Web posts dated Aug 11 and Aug 12, titled “Being Re-Trained Pts 1 & 2”, wherein employee defames coworkers and potentially exposes company training practices, which are defined by its bylaws as “trade secrets”.
- Web post dated Aug 13, titled “Just To Get In The Pants”, wherein employee recounts privileged, confidential conversation between himself and manager in regards to performance issues. All such exchanges should always remain confidential, unless in the presence of an arbitrator or other intermediary.
- Web posts dated Aug 16 and Aug 19, titled “Why I Won’t Help You Pts 1 & 2”, wherein employee willfully refuses to execute job function because of prejudiced tendencies. These posts alone violate nearly every anti-discrimination policy that the company upholds.
- Video dated Aug 20 titled “Meet My CoWorkers”, wherein employee makes video recordings of interior of office and shares confidential footage of employees at work, all performed without media release.
Mr. Turner, we take these violations very seriously. Because of your remarkable sales record, we remain confident that you can take corrective action to amend for your recent lapses in judgment. As a requirement of your probation, you must cooperate with the company’s Employee Wellness Program for substance abuse counseling. We take any inferences to alcoholism very seriously. While we cannot legally prohibit you from posting on the internet, any further defamatory comments may be seen as a direct violation of this warning, and can lead to immediate termination.
Sincerely,
XXXXXX XXXXXXX
HR Manager