A Pierogi Gets Burned.

After the fifth inning of each Pittsburgh Pirates game, a group of pierogies—yes, pierogies—competes in a 280-yard race around the baseball field.  The delicious mascots, Sauerkraut Saul, Cheese Chester, Jalapeno Hannah, and Oliver Onion, are beloved among the Pirate community and you can even submit an application for them to make an appearance at your event.  While it may be hilarious to watch pierogies chase each other around a baseball field, what’s not hilarious is that one of them got fired.  Former Pirate Pierogie, Andrew Kurtz, was asked to turn in his tights in 2010 for posting unfavorable comments about the baseball team on his Facebook page.

At the time, the Pirates were not having the best season and fans were obviously not jumping for joy.  Kurtz was also a Pirates fan and joined in on the sports team ranting online that other users were surely participating in.  Referring to the team president, general manager, and manager, he posted, “Coonelly extended the contracts of Russell and Huntington through the 2011 season. That means a 19-straight losing streak. Way to go Pirates,” (Daily News).  Kurtz defended his post saying that it was his opinion and even asked for a second chance, but the team and mascot management were upset and had to let him go.

Although it really stinks for Kurtz that he can no longer sport his pierogi outfit on the field, the Pittsburgh Pirates management are legally justified in their choice to fire him.  Although Americans enjoy the right to free speech under the First Amendment, that protection does not apply to private sector companies.  As an employee, you are free to post whatever you’d like online, but your employer is also allowed to come after you for it, as long as they don’t violate anti-discrimination laws, union regulations, or civil rights.  Kurtz was also probably not working under a contract, which means that he was an at will employee.  He held his job at the will of the company and could be fired at their discretion at any time.

Many sports fans use social networking sites as a platform for bragging and rooting for their favorite teams, smack talking other teams, and for venting their frustrations with teams and players.  I’m sure that Kurtz was just acting as a normal Pirates fan would by participating in this online sports talk, but in the end he was an employee of the team.  When you work for an organization, part of your job is to represent that organization positively.  Just as you wouldn’t want your own reputation ruined by people gossiping about you and talking badly about you behind your back, companies and organizations don’t want people speaking negatively of them either.  By choosing to fire Kurtz, the Pirates management was hoping to protect and preserve their reputation.  They probably felt betrayed that one of their own “family members” would post something negative about them for the whole world to see.

While I do understand it, I also think that it’s interesting that the situation was taken so seriously despite the fact that Kurtz was only a Pirate Pierogi.  He was a part of a rotation of workers that only appeared on the field once every game, and even then his identity was concealed by a costume.  It’s not like he was a very recognizable employee of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Unless he posted content related to his job as a pierogi online, people that saw his Facebook post would not necessarily know that he was associated with the Pirates.  Nevertheless, the Pittsburgh Pirates hope that everyone in their association remains enthusiastic for the team, and I definitely respect that.

Let this case be a lesson that you should be cautious of what you post online.  It’s so easy to type something in the box and hit enter.  Sometimes it seems disconnected from reality and we often don’t think about what could happen as a result of what we might share.  We also don’t realize how many people may come across our posts and how quickly they could possibly spread.  It’s crazy, but it’s the world we live in today.  Before you hit the little harmless looking post button next time, think twice about what you’re about to put out there for the world.

For more examples of how Facebook usage has caused people to get fired or to add your own story, check out this article from the Huffington Post.