On June 16, Konikoff Dentistry in Virginia Beach posted vaguely that four of its employees had “posted offensive and inappropriate social media comments or otherwise engaged in offensive social media posts from others.” Less than a day after their boss was made aware of the conduct, every worker had been fired. The move ended up making the local news, with attorney Gary Byler explaining that former staff across Hampton Roads had few options for recourse. “You are free to post racist comments on Facebook. Employers are free to not hire racists.”
Byler goes on to say that racist social media posts are hard to defend in court, especially in Virginia, which has few restrictions on an employer’s ability to fire staff. “Unless you have a written contract [. . .] you’re not fired for an inappropriate comment; you’re simply not rehired.” As a result, workers like those at Konikoff Dentistry have little recourse, with Byler sharing darkly that “the one case that concerns me most is that a professional woman who has been with the Mayo Insurance group for years and years was fired for what her husband posted on Facebook.”
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