MANSFIELD, Tex. — A Texas teen with the Twitter handle "Cella" was supposed to start work at a Mansfield, Texas, pizza parlor this week. But on the eve of her very first day, she apparently sent out a Tweet that got her fired instead.
It said, "Eww, I start this f__ a__ job tomorrow."
Jet's Pizza owner Robert Waple didn't take it so well. He fired back, "And no you don't start your FA job today, I just fired you! Good luck with your no money, no job life."
"This is just one of those gaps in really understanding that there are consequences for what you put out there," said Kelly O'Brien with Texas Christian University School of Business.
O'Brien urges his business students not to assume there's privacy on social media. He says they're really forming a personal, lifelong business brand that an inadvisable posting can undo overnight.
"And we need to be careful about what goes out there. Reaction to Cella's posting blew up on CBS-11's Facebook page, mostly blaming her.
"You don't talk bad about your job on social media and not suffer the fallout," said one.
Another offered some consolation. "She'll be doing pretty good if that's the only mistake she makes as a teenager."
O'Brien warns even posting under an assumed name in other apps, like Instagram or Yik Yak, is inherently dangerous.
"It may say that your post is anonymous, but there's somebody out there that finds a way to tweak the application in order to find that person's information," said O'Brien.
Waple is the franchise owner and could have commented on camera if he wished, but he declined.
Jet's Pizza's corporate office responded, "We regret to see the manner in which this situation has been handled by the parties involved."
Waple came under fire from Facebook, too.
"The firing was justified. The response was unprofessional," said one posting. O'Brien agrees.
"From my standpoint, it gave a really negative perception of the employer because I don't see that as being very professional," said O'Brien.
O'Brien counsels his students that whether they're a job seeker or employer they're creating a personal business brand, and an emotional, inadvisable posting can undo that work overnight.
KIRO
