In Australia, unfriending an employee on Facebook now counts as bullying

Fallow

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This just in:Unfriending employees now count as bullying [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/11890275/Facebook-unfriending-can-constitute-workplace-bullying-Australian-tribunal-finds.html] according to the Australian Workplace Tribunal.
Not only that, but failure to say good morning also counts.

One has to wonder if we aren't taking this hyper-sensitivity a bit too far.

From the article:
A woman in Australia who unfriended a colleague on Facebook after a dispute at work was found by a tribunal to have committed workplace bullying.

The Fair Work Commission, a workplace tribunal, said the decision by Lisa Bird, a real estate agent sales administrator, to unfriend her colleague Rachel Roberts showed a "lack of emotional maturity" and was "indicative of unreasonable behaviour."
What do you think? Is it about time that 'Facebook friends' is written into the constitution as a basic human right? Is a 'good morning' grounds for bullying? Or is this yet another step towards coddling those that have never needed to learn about life's (not really) harsh reality?
 

The Lunatic

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thaluikhain said:
Predictably, there is a bit more to it than that:


Ms Roberts, a real estate agent for more than 10 years who joined the company in 2012, cited nearly 20 run-ins, primarily with Mrs Bird, in which she claimed she was ?belittled and humiliated?.
Specifically on unfriending her, the report reads as followed:

The evidence of Ms Roberts as to Mrs Bird defriending her on Facebook immediately after the incident is supported by a contemporaneous text message between Ms Roberts and Mr Bird. 64 It was not refute by Mrs Bird in evidence. This action by Mrs Bird evinces a lack of emotional maturity and is indicative of unreasonable behaviour
So, whilst yes, there is more to the story, if we specifically focus on the "Unfriending" part, then it is correct that unfriending a person is now being considered a action that is apparently "Unreasonable behaviour" towards a person who is not your friend.
 

Secondhand Revenant

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Fallow said:
This just in:Unfriending employees now count as bullying [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/11890275/Facebook-unfriending-can-constitute-workplace-bullying-Australian-tribunal-finds.html] according to the Australian Workplace Tribunal.
Not only that, but failure to say good morning also counts.

One has to wonder if we aren't taking this hyper-sensitivity a bit too far.

From the article:
A woman in Australia who unfriended a colleague on Facebook after a dispute at work was found by a tribunal to have committed workplace bullying.

The Fair Work Commission, a workplace tribunal, said the decision by Lisa Bird, a real estate agent sales administrator, to unfriend her colleague Rachel Roberts showed a "lack of emotional maturity" and was "indicative of unreasonable behaviour."
What do you think? Is it about time that 'Facebook friends' is written into the constitution as a basic human right? Is a 'good morning' grounds for bullying? Or is this yet another step towards coddling those that have never needed to learn about life's (not really) harsh reality?
I suggest actually reading the report. It was not considered bullying in and of itself. It is mentioned in the final allegation, which was:

[82] Ms Roberts alleged that Mrs Bird acted in a belittling and aggressive way towards her on 29 January 2015 during an impromptu one-on-one meeting called by Mrs Bird (Allegation 17).
This allegation was confirmed, for amongst other things, them both agreeing Mrs. Bird told Ms. Roberts she was like a "naughty little school girl running to the teacher". And other details of the meeting. It was not just confirmed on the FB point. The FB thing is mentioned but you are blowing its importance out of proportion
 
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Man punches guy in the face several times and then calls him a prick. Gets 6 months for assault.

Calling people a prick now counts as assault!
 

DoPo

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Zykon TheLich said:
Calling people a prick now counts as assault!
A whole new meaning to the old "sticks and stones", eh?
 

BloatedGuppy

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Clearly another example of political correctness run amok. The disintegration of society is nigh.

I consider myself well and truly sensationalized by this thread.
 

lechat

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I know you all are saying this isn't a thing but it is and has been written into my company harassment and bullying policies for as long as I have been with the company (3ish years).
Examples include unfriending on facebook and failing to invite someone to special occasions like birthdays and parties while inviting others.
The company is american owned and situated in australia supplying to one of the major fast food chains.
 

Secondhand Revenant

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lechat said:
I know you all are saying this isn't a thing but it is and has been written into my company harassment and bullying policies for as long as I have been with the company (3ish years).
Examples include unfriending on facebook and failing to invite someone to special occasions like birthdays and parties while inviting others.
The company is american owned and situated in australia supplying to one of the major fast food chains.
Whether that's accurate or not, the situation presented did not indicate that if you read the actual document
 

lechat

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Secondhand Revenant said:
lechat said:
I know you all are saying this isn't a thing but it is and has been written into my company harassment and bullying policies for as long as I have been with the company (3ish years).
Examples include unfriending on facebook and failing to invite someone to special occasions like birthdays and parties while inviting others.
The company is american owned and situated in australia supplying to one of the major fast food chains.
Whether that's accurate or not, the situation presented did not indicate that if you read the actual document
no actually it says the exact opposite:
"The Fair Work Commission didn't find that unfriending someone on Facebook constitutes workplace bullying," Josh Bornstein, a lawyer at the firm Maurice Blackburn, told ABC News.
and while my company's HR division may agree since they are more than likely sane human beings they write the policy just in case of situations like this where each minor incident can add up to a major court case.
 

Secondhand Revenant

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lechat said:
Secondhand Revenant said:
lechat said:
I know you all are saying this isn't a thing but it is and has been written into my company harassment and bullying policies for as long as I have been with the company (3ish years).
Examples include unfriending on facebook and failing to invite someone to special occasions like birthdays and parties while inviting others.
The company is american owned and situated in australia supplying to one of the major fast food chains.
Whether that's accurate or not, the situation presented did not indicate that if you read the actual document
no actually it says the exact opposite:
"The Fair Work Commission didn't find that unfriending someone on Facebook constitutes workplace bullying," Josh Bornstein, a lawyer at the firm Maurice Blackburn, told ABC News.
and while my company's HR division may agree since they are more than likely sane human beings they write the policy just in case of situations like this where each minor incident can add up to a major court case.
I mean the way the OP presented it doesn't match what the document says and that's what people are talking about
 

MacabreHeart

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I think the point was that in this situation the unfriending was an exclusionary tactic much like getting snubbed by the popular kids in highschool. While it's a weird precedent to set it's understandable how they arrived there. What needs to happen now though is to look at this case as an individual and not make this precedent apply to all similar cases.
 

Worgen

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DeanCain said:
Gosh, with threads like this I have no idea why people don't listen to people yelling that SJW's are making the sky fall. It's almost like...it's a totally bullshit claim!
Is this a sjw thing? It sounds more like a republican thing, I remember them yelling about things like this back when they were trying to pass tort reform.
 

FoolKiller

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lechat said:
I know you all are saying this isn't a thing but it is and has been written into my company harassment and bullying policies for as long as I have been with the company (3ish years).
Examples include unfriending on facebook and failing to invite someone to special occasions like birthdays and parties while inviting others.
The company is american owned and situated in australia supplying to one of the major fast food chains.
My condolences on such bullshit. I remember being forced to share my toys with everyone (including my bullies) at school. I was so pissed off that I wasn't allowed control of my own property. This feels like the same thing but for adults.

This is yet another reason I don't facebook.
 

Secondhand Revenant

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LeathermanKick25 said:
Gotta ask, all the people claiming bullshit in this thread, are any of you Australian? Live in Australia?

Our government pretty much paints the picture of Political Correctness gone too far. This news isn't the least bit surprising. Soon enough sayings like "G'day mate" will be filed under racism or some other bullshit.
Between "I am one person living in Australia and I have an opinion" and "I read the document and it didn't say that" I wonder which one you think is supposed to be the better argument about what was actually said in this case
 

CrystalShadow

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LeathermanKick25 said:
Gotta ask, all the people claiming bullshit in this thread, are any of you Australian? Live in Australia?

Our government pretty much paints the picture of Political Correctness gone too far. This news isn't the least bit surprising. Soon enough sayings like "G'day mate" will be filed under racism or some other bullshit.
Oh please. That's a vast exaggeration. And yes, I do live in Australia.
Considering the blatahtly racist policies it has in place for certain matters, that seems especially laughable.
Of course, sure, there are the odd weird policies. There always are.
But The alternatives to getting bogged down in petty and stupid rules tends to be leaving things wide open for blatant abuse instead.
The law tends to be like that unfortunately.