Loose lips of worker’s daughter save firm $80K
Granted, all kids do dumb things from time to time, but the majority of these stupid exploits don’t make national news. While this college student’s father was probably furious over his daughter’s social media activity, chances are his former employer was thrilled by it.
A former headmaster for a Florida prep school sued for age discrimination and retaliation when his contract wasn’t renewed.
Eventually, the school and the former employees settled the suit — to the tune of $90K (with $80,000 going to the former worker as a “1099” — plus $60,000 in attorney’s fees.
The settlement contained a very strict confidentiality agreement — including a provision that said even acknowledging the existence of the settlement would cost the former employee a whooping $80K.
‘Paying for my vacation … SUCK IT’
Everything about this case seemed pretty cut-and-dried … until the former headmaster’s daughter and social media were added to the mix.
Following the agreement, the former worker’s daughter posted this charming statement on her personal Facebook page, which went out to approximately 1200 Facebook friends:
“Mama and Papa Snay won the case against Gulliver. Gulliver is now officially paying for my vacation to Europe this summer. SUCK IT.”
Just four days after the settlement was signed (and before the school made any payments), the school let the former employee know he’d breached the settlement agreement with his daughter’s Facebook post.
The school wound up withholding $80K from the settlement, and the former employee sued to get the rest of his settlement money.
But the court was with the company on this one because:
“Before the ink was dry on the agreement, and notwithstanding the clear language of section 13 mandating confidentiality, Snay violated the agreement by doing exactly what he had promised not to do. His daughter then did precisely what the confidentiality agreement was designed to prevent, advertising to the Gulliver community that Snay had been successful in his age discrimination and retaliation case against the school.”
Let’s hope all the “likes” the headmaster’s daughter garnered with her comment were worth $80K hit.
Free Training & Resources
Webinars
Provided by Yooz
White Papers
Provided by UJET
Further Reading
A federal ban on nearly all employee non-compete agreements (NCAs) was approved by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on April 23. The rule...
When employers fail to honor wage and hour settlement agreements, the Department of Labor’s next step is to seek a court order. In th...
Word to the wise: When OSHA comes knocking, take the visit seriously the first time around. Otherwise, the penalties can really pile up,...
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recovered $17,311 in back wages and assessed civil penalties against a Rowland Heig...
Improperly calculating employees’ overtime pay can be an expensive mistake, as a Cincinnati-based logistics provider recently learned the...
Back in 2013, the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) accused hedge fund manager George Jarkesy of defrauding two investors. Unlike ...