Newspaper Justified In Firing Reporter for Tweets

A newspaper crime reporter was lawfully terminated for making what the newspaper considered were inappropriate and offensive tweets.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that the Arizona Daily Star was justified in firing the reporter who ignored warnings from his editor and superiors to stop posting what they believed were inappropriate and offensive tweets.  Postings on Twitter by reporters were encouraged by the newspaper as a way to get news stories to people who might not otherwise read the newspaper and drive traffic to the newspaper’s website.

The newspaper first warned the reporter when he posted a tweet criticizing the newspaper’s copy editors for headlines appearing in the sports section.  Following the tweet, the reporter was called in by the newspaper’s human resources department and told to stop criticizing the newspaper.  When asked what the newspaper’s social media policy was, the reporter was told that the newspaper was working on it but did not have a written policy.

Several months later, the reporter turned to tweeting about homicides in Tucson.  The tweets included:  “You stay homicidal, Tuscon.  See Star Net for the bloody deets.” “What?!?!?  No overnight homicide?  WTF?  You’re slacking Tucson.”  “Hope everyone’s having a good Homicide Friday, as one Tuscon police officer called it.”  Following those tweets, the reporter was told he could no longer tweet.  A few days later, he was terminated.

The NLRB found that the reporter “was terminated for posting inappropriate and unprofessional tweets, after having been warned not to do so.”  While the warnings to him not to tweet about grievances with the newspaper or to criticize the newspaper could be interpreted to prohibit him from activities permitted under labor laws, the statements did not constitute overbroad rules by the newspaper and were made “in response to specific inappropriate conduct.”  As a result, the newspaper did terminate the reporter for cause.

Lee Enterprise, Inc., dba Arizona Daily Star, NLRB Advice Memorandum Case 28-CA-23267, issued April 21, 2011