Just My E-pinion
By Stephen D. Bruce, PHR
Editor, HR Daily Advisor
The unfortunate and embarrassing story of Shirley Sherrod’s ouster from the Department of Agriculture by Secretary Tom Vilsack has at least a small silver lining—it’s a stern reminder to HR managers to look before they leap.
Sherrod was sacked after a video of her remarks at an NAACP banquet in Georgia were posted on YouTube. Later it became apparent that the remarks had been taken out of context and the video edited substantially. Secretary Vilsack apologized, saying “She’s been put through hell.”
The story reminds me of one related by attorney Jonathan Segal at the recent Society for Human Resource Management Conference and Exhibition in San Diego. A corporation fired a maid for failing to clean up the executive suite.
Apparently the first round of questioning went about like this:
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Did you clean the executive suite?
No.
Did you know that if you didn’t clean it you would be fired?
Yes.
You’re fired.
In later a later interview, now with lawyers involved, the questioning went a little farther:
Was there a reason you didn’t clean the executive suite?
Yes.
And what was the reason?
It was locked.
Then the whole story came out—the executive was in the executive suite having sex with a subordinate at the time.
Both tales are cautionary. Although both obviously tell us to use caution before leaping to conclusions, perhaps the area where they apply most is to Internet vetting of potential employees.
On the Internet it may appear that you have found some damaging (or extolling) information, but beware:
- You may not be looking at the right person
- The information that appears may not have been put there by the person involved
- Texts, pictures, and videos may have been manipulated before posting or after posting
And of course, the racial aspect of the Sherrod situation reminds employers that Internet searches are bound to reveal information you wish you didn’t have. For example, information about race, religion, disability, sexual preference, and more.
See what everyone’s talking about! Check out BLR’s remarkable everything-you-need-for-HR website, HR.BLR.com, at no cost or risk, and get a complimentary special report! Get more info.
And by the way, you’re not secretly searching the site. It’s likely that there’s a trace of your visit.
So should you search at all? The experts are split. It’s a risk versus reward call, trading off the difficulties related to hiring someone you wish you’d found out more about against the prospect of a discrimination lawsuit from someone you did find something about.
What’s your position? Does your company do Internet searches? Do you have any safeguards in place to prevent a Shirley Sherrod incident? What do you think about Sherrod? About Vilsack? Please let us know and we’ll publish the answers in a forthcoming issue. Send your comments to: SBruce@BLR.com.