Advertisement

Firm sued over Facebook 'threats' sacking

The Local/pvs
The Local/pvs - [email protected]
Firm sued over Facebook 'threats' sacking

Swedish trade union Unionen has opened legal action against a firm from Piteå in northern Sweden on behalf of two employees fired after posting "threatening" comments against a manager on Facebook.

Advertisement

Unionen has argued that it has decided to sue GoExcellent after its members were unable to reach agreement with the firm over the course of events, according to a report in the Svenska Dagbladet daily.

"The employer argues that it is the threat which is the basis for the sacking, we maintain that they haven't done anything serious enough to be sacked," Ola Sundström, a lawyer at Unionen, told the newspaper.

The case dates back to August 2011 when an ex-employee voiced his disappointment with the company on his Facebook page.

His post included claims that he had been badly treated when he was made redundant and felt that he had been tricked by one of the managers.

Some of his former colleagues agreed with him. In writing.

“I would have stormed in to XX (manager’s first name) and, like Yngwie Malmsteen would have said, unleash the fucking fury,” one of the colleague wrote, a comment that he was reported to the police for.

Another employee wrote “A bottle of spirit + AK47 gogogo. I am on vacation.”

The third man wrote: “As long as you shoot the fuckers and not the fuckees…”

One of the fired men told the local Piteå-tidningen at the time that he felt that it was a severe punishment to be fired after working at the company for almost 5 years. Instead, he thought they should have received a written warning from the management.

But the firm disagrees and continues to argue that posting threats against members of its management team is sufficient to justify a sacking.

Unionen is seeking 150,000 kronor in compensation from the firm on behalf of each of the men.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also