It’s become part of our culture: liking, commenting, and sharing on social media, but with increasing regularity, those commonplace actions are costing people their jobs. 

The message here isn’t that you cannot post or react to things, but be careful; very careful. 

Being scrutinized for your social media actions has also become commonplace in the employment world for both hiring and firing. 

“We have seen this trend for the past several years where employers are taking adverse action against employees for what we call ‘off-site, off-the-clock conduct,'” said Zack Bombatch, a human resources expert and employment lawyer. 

Bombatch said the death of online personality Charlie Kirk has exacerbated the situation. 

“It’s probably a function of just the gruesome way he was killed, and really how heightened things are politically within the country, it’s only gotten worse over the last several months,” he said. 

So, just know that your social media actions could be under an employer’s magnifying glass, even if you didn’t make the original post. 

“If you like it, share it, or add a comment, just saying, ‘here, here, I agree with that,’ that activity could also be under scrutiny by employers because you’re still engaging in that speech,” Bombatch explained. 

Bombatch also said that, as an at-will employee, the courts have upheld that you can’t claim First Amendment protection. Generally speaking, he said, private employers are not bound by the First Amendment.

He also said that he doesn’t think that making things private will protect you. 

“Just be aware that whatever precautions you take, it might be found out by your employer,” he said. “Your employer might not like your perspective, and you might lose your job because of it.” 

Bombatch said the current situation aside, putting your stamp on any controversial post could come back to haunt you months or even years from now. 

Simply put, if an employer sees your views as harmful to their brand or business, it could spell trouble for your job. 

John Shumway

John Shumway joined KDKA in October 1988 as a General Assignment Reporter. During his years at KDKA, he has anchored the morning and weekend news and is currently a featured General Assignment Reporter on the station’s 4, 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts.