On Thursday, July 3rd, 2014, Radio Shock Jock Anthony Cumia of the “Opie & Anthony” show was fired from his nationally syndicated SiriusXM show. Cumia, who recently celebrated 20 years of radio along with his radio co-host Greg Hughes, was fired for doing one thing we’re all tempted to do from time to time: ranting on social media.
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Here are three things that your company should consider in light of this situation:
How would you handle an employee’s social media outburst? Do you have a legally defensible plan in place for how to handle employee’s outburst on social media? If you don’t have a policy in your employee handbook, it’s time to consider adding it.
An outburst can happen anywhere – and can come from anyone in your organization. Mr. Cumia is essentially one-half of a brand that has stood the test of time for over 20 years. Now that SiriusXM has decided to terminate their relationship, the Opie & Anthony show now has to figure out “what’s next.” How does a radio station handle this kind of succession planing? How would your firm handle a chief executive being let go for ranting like this?
Social media is public – and it doesn’t just “go away.” Your organization may be small now but there’s a chance that you’ll grow in the future. This means that comments made by employees could come back around and become a PR nightmare. A great resource for handling social media in the workplace is SHRM’s book that can be found here.
Does your company have a social media plan? Contact Jumpstart:HR, LLC today and learn more about how we can help!
Best Practices in Social Media Human Resources Policy from Jumpstart:HR