About the webinar

The Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law was pleased to host a Labour Law Seminar on discipline and dismissal for social media activity, presented by Professor Virginia Mantouvalou (University College London), with commentary from Dr Jacqueline Meredith (Swinburne University of Technology).

A lot of people lose their jobs because of what they post on social media. Gary Lineker, a hugely popular sports commentator, was suspended by the BBC because of his comments on social media that the Illegal Migration Bill that targeted an extremely vulnerable group of people is immeasurably cruel. A woman employed by a US government contractor lost her job because she was photographed extending her middle finger at the motorcade of President Trump when she was away from work, and she posted the photo on her Facebook and Twitter page. In Australia, Antoinette Lattouf was taken off air by the ABC after she shared a post about the war in Gaza.

Is it fair to be dismissed for social media activity? This seminar examined this question.

Professor Mantouvalou critically considered UK and European cases of recent years to assess the limitations imposed by the law to the employer’s managerial prerogative, focusing on the protection of the right to freedom of expression and private life. On this basis, she identified the core principles to guide this area of law and argued that discipline and dismissal for social media activity should only be rarely permitted. Dr Meredith supplemented Professor Mantouvalou’s presentation by providing an Australian perspective based on her doctoral research which considered the division between work and non-work in the labour law context.