Firing bloggers to protect company image: Part I -- the stories

I’m bringing up the rear on these stories of fired bloggers, as they’ve been bouncing around the blogosphere -- and mainstream media -- quite a bit the last few weeks; but perhaps some of you haven’t seen them yet.

Or perhaps if you have, you can learn something new here anyway. I will follow shortly with a post discussing how companies might weigh the potential positives and negatives of employee blogging to arrive at appropriate policy.

The hottest -- but not the only -- story of a blogger fired over a controversial posting is that of Queen of Sky (a/k/a/ Q of S a/k/a Ellen Simonetti), a (now former) Delta flight attendant. She was fired supposedly because Delta deemed "inappropriate" some pictures of herself that she posted to her blog. What are these pics like? XXX Porn or at least topless softcore? Not hardly. See for yourself Q of S's mild cleavage and leg shots that the fuss was all about -- with a long thread of pro and con comments.

A very unfortunate situation, perhaps more so for Delta than for Q of S.

Q of S now has had more TV (including Today Show) and print (including New York Times) exposure, not to mention blog traffic, than any blogger could dream of.

She may have actually been quite an asset as a Delta employee -- for her fun-loving spirit at least as much as her looks. The PR impact of her blog on Delta's image was not necessarily entirely negative (more on this below).

On the other hand, the PR impact of her termination on Delta's image is quite clearly negative in the eyes of many people learning of it.

Here's Q of S's immediate blog-reaction:

1.) Yes, you read correctly... Queen of Sky was fired yesterday (actually effective Monday). Big blunder on Delta's part, if you ask me (see #2)

2.) Q of S has hired a PR firm, as she has received so many interview requests.

3.) A BIG lawsuit is coming for Delta Air Lines.

There may or may not be a basis for legal action. Q of S claims similarly situated male blogger-employees were not fired, raising an inference of sex discrimination.

This may be why Delta focused on the photos, whereas I think some of her negative remarks about the company and co-employees might be a more serious concern. (I'm not sure there were any males showing cleavage -- or the male equivalent, whatever that is -- there more likely were male blogger-employees also grousing about the company and co-employees)

Some of the blogosphere and media commentary on this incident includes:

From Michael Fox at Jottings By An Employer's Lawyer: "Blogging Meets the Workplace in the Air":

Legal points to be learned from this scenario: First amendment (and other constitutional) rights don't apply to private employers. The Queen of the Sky's charge of discrimination could have merit if employees of the opposite gender have engaged in similar conduct that she is being disciplined for, and Delta was aware of it and did not react in a similar fashion.

Non-legal point. What a mess for Delta.

And Michael's follow-up:"Update on Grounded -- Make That Fired -- Flight Attendant":

[Y]ou can check out the announcement of her termination from the . . . Queen of the Sky herself. What is truly fascinating . . . on how the public views employment law issues is to check out the . . . comments which accompany the announcement. . . . The comments range from those who agree with Delta's actions, those who agree some action was appropriate but think termination was too harsh, those who are outraged at Delta, and those who just want a date!

The New York Times article:"Fired Flight Attendant Finds Blogs Can Backfire" (by CHRISTINE NEGRONI) has some very interesting details and perspective, including the suggestion that Q of S was trying "to project the image of a stewardess from a bygone era. . . 'In the past people expected flight attendants to be young and attractive, . . .Maybe I represent the flight attendants of the past," she said.

In dozens of often irreverent entries, she tells stories of her international adventures and offers interesting tidbits about how flight attendants compete for coveted international flights. [A]bout how difficult flight attendant training can be, she wrote: "It is challenging if you think memorizing city codes and airline regulations and struggling into a slippery life raft from a swimming pool with everybody in your class looking at your butt and your flailing legs sounds daunting. Oh, and all the meanwhile you have to keep your hair and makeup perfect."

The blog also includes an extensive and eclectic list of personal recommendations for everything from green grocers in Monaco to depilatory services in Santiago to travel advice she has paid dearly to obtain. . .

Rounding out her narrative are her dating horror stories . . . The men who come down on the wrong side of the Queen can find themselves described in less-than flattering terms.

Q of S was developing quite a following and wondering, like many of us, if she could find a way to make blogging pay:

A counter on the site shows nearly a half million visitors since Ms. Simonetti started writing. The site was so popular. . . that in the beginning of September, she started looking for businesses willing to buy links or ads on her page. One of those she approached was Delta. She said she believed that is how Delta management found out about her site.

Gary Bledsoe, her lawyer in Austin, said: "This shows two things. She was not aware of any policy that would provide for termination under these circumstances. And it points to her good faith in being a good employee in following correct protocols and following proper steps to see if there could be an official nexus with her company."

This advertising idea may seem naive or even idiotic. It certainly assumed Delta would be thinking in the latest 21st century marketing terms -- in which blogs are increasingly viewed as potentially quite useful adjuncts to a marketing strategy -- and Delta apparently was not. The Q of S audience was not insignificant, and good blogs have a way of growing exponentially, so she might have been able to provide some good inexpensive blogger-marketing.

The New York Times continues with an excellent point on why Delta may have been so sensitive to the photos:

The women's movement played a large role in the elimination of the overt sexualization of flight attendants like those portrayed in National Airlines' 1974 television ad featuring attractive stewardesses beckoning mostly male business travelers to "Fly Me" and Continental Airlines' similar invitation to ogle the flight attendants, with its promise, "We Really Move Our Tail For You."

"Airlines discovered they were on the wrong side of that issue 20 years ago," . . . "They've gotten religion. And deeply ingrained in their corporate culture and human relations practices is an aversion to that kind of sexualization." Read more

FCNow, the Fast Company blog, in "Blog at Your Own Risk," posed this question to its readers:

Regardless of what you may think of the photos, what lines should be drawn, if any, between your work and personal life? Considering how the two seem more enmeshed than ever, do you think Delta overreacted? What would you have done?

The answers were interesting and generally quite favorable to Q of S, as might be expected from a cutting-edge techno-pub like FC. Check them out here.

After reading all this, I Googled a bit looking for other stories of fired bloggers.

I found the equally sad case of Polar Penny, an employee of a Canadian community’s tourism bureau who enjoyed blogging and photoblogging about her weekend snow hikes -- until one day she crossed the line. Her sin? This post about suddenly coming upon an ugly heap of abandoned machinery in the region whose pristine virtues she was paid to extol to would-be-tourists.

See story from BlogsCanada here including a few choice comments.

See tons more comments about this firing here:

Did these two young women show bad judgment in their blogging? Evidently.

Should they have been fired? The punishment should fit the crime. Asking them to remove the offending posts/pictures -- or even entire blogs -- is certainly a possibility that might have been more fitting. But nobody other than the employers and bloggers know all the facts, so I only raise the question and don't claim to know the answer.

In part II, I will discuss considerations for bloggers and their employers in order to avoid problems and come up with win-win solutions, including suggested blogging policies, and potential benefits to companies of employing successful bloggers.