She Got Fired Due To a Naked Selfie: HR Advices on How To Avoid Such Cases

By Elizabeth Benu,
Teachers have been held and are still held in high esteem. They are like second parents and reflect in morals but for this particular teacher from Georgia, it will be hard to get back her place in the society.

The New York Daily News recently  reported that her students hacked into her phone and posted her naked ‘selfies’ online. She was later fired for being irresponsible with her phone, for not properly handling or reporting the incident and for insubordination in the weeks that followed the ordeal.

Big lesson here, It does not matter whether a phone is private but sometimes a selfie can cost you a lot if it gets into the wrong hands.

Speaking to Mercy Makena, a HR Consultant at Virtual HR, she cautions on the importance of being careful when taking photos.

“Things happen accidentally and photos find themselves online. You may send the photos to the wrong person without intending to. So when taking a photo, ask yourself ‘What if someone else saw this picture what would they think?’ let’s say your mother saw the picture?” she poses.

As an employee who values their job what do you think would happen if your photos went viral online? Would you get fired? Would you be exiled? Would it bring your career to an end?

“No law defines that you can get fired. But on the other hand nude pictures can be considered as pornography, and promotion of pornography is a criminal offence. A criminal offence is left to the police,” says Benson Ng’ang’a, a Human Resource Officer at Bata.

Mr. Ng’ang’a adds that,  “Most of the times one is stopped from working during the time of investigation.”

Mr. Ng’ang’a gives his opinion on how far is too far when it comes to taking a selfie and whether your job title (be it intern or CEO) matters when it comes to being judged.

“Naked ones (selfies) are a big NO. Pornography is illegal and it does not matter if you are the CEO or the intern, provided you took a naked selfie. That is an offence,” opines Mr. Ng’ang’a

It’s not only this teacher who has had her share of her nude photos leaking online, but what lessons can  employees or job seekers learn from her story?

“Just take decent photos, it will not hurt in doing so. It is a choice you have to make since at work there are limits,” Mr. Ng’ang’a says.

What if your naked selfies got leaked to the public?

“It’s hard to make explanations regarding such photos. That photo speaks of your character. Your academic qualifications do not matter as much as your character does. Nobody would wish to employ such a person/employee,” adds Mr. Ng’ang’a.

“Take an example of someone working for Christian NGO, it will be hard to explain what your nude photos are doing online but for a secular radio station it might be easy to explain. It all depends on the organization you are working for,” he says.

Mr. Ng’ang’a also advices that if it happens in future, it is important to first delete the photos online.

“Secondly apologize. How you apologize depends on the people you are apologizing to,” he concludes.

Watch your selfies; they may bring your resignation letter home.

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