New England Patriots Cheerleader Caitlin Davis Fired Over Facebook Pictures
The pictures showed Davis and an unidentified friend leaning over a passed-out boy whose entire face and body was covered in distasteful graffiti. "Penis," (accompanied by said phallic symbols) 'I'm a Jew' and a couple swastikas are only some of the things drawn all over the unfortunate unconscious friend.
The pictures made their way from Facebook, to onblastatlast.com, finally resting at Deadspin.com. As soon as her superiors found out about the photos, Davis was dismissed.
Deadspin updated their original post by saying that they had actually spoken with Davis.
"She did insist that photos featured were taken out of context and claims she didn't draw anything on the individual. Obviously, she was concerned for her part-time job as a Pats cheerleader and the subsequent embarrassment that comes with having those pictures splashed across the internet."
Unfortunately, Caitlin is not the first, nor the last person to deal with the aftermath of Facebook postings. Several employees of a Canadian grocery chain called Farm Boy were fired for verbally attacking customers and staff in posts on the Facebook group "I Got Farm Boy'd."
Jami Mulligan, a writer for Eastern University college newspaper, The Waltonian, wrote about how her back and forth with a fellow day care employee on Facebook walls got her fired. The director of the day care was monitoring her profile and reading everything that was said. Eventually, Mulligan was called to the office and after giving her explanation of the situation, she was let go.
Thirteen Virgin Atlantic cabin staff were fired after posting inappropriate comments on Facebook. These comments not only questioned the safety of the aircraft, but they also labeled customers as "chavs" (a slang word for an unintelligent person). Members of British Airways staff are also under fire for the same offense, using Facebook to discuss the passengers who were "smelly" and to criticize how Terminal 5 was run.
Many may argue that it is our right as American citizens to have a Facebook profile and to post whatever we want without the fear of being fired by our employer. However, the fact of the matter is, when recruiting someone, an employer has a right to investigate you to ensure that you'll be right for their company. If you put your information and pictures out on the web for the world to see (Facebook is indexed by Google), then expect to be questioned.
Popular blog Stepcase Lifehack has these suggestions to offer in regards to proper Facebook use:
"Don't post anything that you wouldn't feel comfortable posting or discussing in the lunchroom at work.
Remove comments posted by others that can get you into trouble.
Raise your privacy settings.
Do not ever admit to anything even remotely resembling a crime.
Monitor your information."
Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa, Caitlin Davis' Life Is Not So Cheery Now, BostonHerald.com
The Patriots Dole Out Their Swift, Kraftian Justice, Thus Ending the Short Career of One Cheerleader, Deadspin.com
Vito Pilieci, Farm Boy Workers Fired After Chat Site Critiques, The Ottawa Citizen
Jami Mulligan, How Facebook Got Me Fired, The Waltonian
Matthew Sparkes, Airline Staff Fired Over Facebook Gaffe, Pcpro.co.uk
"Chav", Antisocialbehaviour.org.uk
Tatsuya Nakagawa, How To Avoid Getting Fired By Facebook, Lifehack.org
Published by Sarah F. Sullivan
Graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English, emphasis in Writing. Freelance writer and editor for three years. View profile
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7 Comments
Post a CommentCould we explain the reasons for putting up this story and then inserting advertisements that distract from the content ? Why not show the photo/s the young lady posted so we can get an idea of what occurred. Instead we get 2 ads of black women and 1 of Netflix. Why even put up the article in the first place? Or were the ads the necessary distraction from the piece?
Since facebook is so popular these days, you have to be very careful what you say and what kind of pictures you post. Word does get around!
I don't think what she did is that big a deal. You people are telling me that you never pulled a prank on your drunken passed out friend? I've done it to people, and people have done it to me. Guess what's awesome about waking up with marker drawings all over you. It washes off! Try waking up taped to the ceiling, that was fun. Took 2 rolls of duct tape.
The Boston Globe reports that Caitlin Davis vows revenge on the website that picked up on her story and posted it on their site:
The Patriots gave her the boot and now the sports blog reports the cheerleader and her boyfriend have promised to punish it for running the snapshots.
Caitlin has sworn vengeance against Deadspin - as did her equally unhappy boyfriend, who is currently deployed in the military - so we'll see if this story takes an even stranger turn that it already has in the coming months. Hope not.
Caitlin, what do plan to do to the Deadspin webmaster? Tell us. We're waiting.
it's sickening that some commenters say "what's the big deal? it's just a college prank." this girl puts herself in the public eye and then proudly displays her hate on the net. my question is: did she learn to hate in college or was it just a result of growing up in Boston?
and stop with the college prank excuse: she is 18 years old. most likely she drives, she drinks, she has sex -- does all the things adults do. why shouldn't she be responsible for what she does? after all, she herself -- nobody else -- posed for this picture and posted it on the net. what's more -- she doesn't even look drunk -- she did this knowingly.
some people find her appalling. is her family proud of her now? if she had any class whatsoever she would issue an apology to this guy, to her family, and to the people of Boston. instead she defends her actions on TMZ in poorly worded English by saying she wasn't alert.
Why doesn't anyone care about the kid she victimized? this boy is wearing this stupid
I love Facebook. Filters all the stupid people in the world to the surface.
Wow. Some folks are not very smart. :)