Dive Brief:
- According to a report at a Fashion Weekly blog, a J.Crew vice president who, on social media, had mocked the firings of employees he had recently fired has been cut loose by the retailer.
- Three other fellow J. Crew employees also took part in the insensitive Instagram posts, and their future with the company is likely in jeopardy, reports The Daily Front Row.
Dive Insight:
This is a clear-cut cautionary tale for HR leaders who either have or are creating an employee social media policy. The question is, how could someone at a relatively high level in the company have crossed the line in such an egregious way?
That, in turn, raises another question: Does J.Crew have a social media policy for employees to follow and if so, is it made clear and communicated often? If not, it needs one pronto. If it does have one, then this vice president and the other offenders just went rogue.
The case also points out how employers, even if they do the right thing, can’t stop employees from lapses in judgment that impact the company brand. In this case, if J.Crew did indeed fire this employee for his insensitivity, as has been reported, then it acted properly and other HR executives should take note.
