As a blogger myself, I'm waiting for the day when I make fun of a customer that comes to my work and they read about themselves, and I get the axe.

Bummer deal for her.

What a dumbass, Beavis.

Ouch...

Just ouch...

Nintendo?

She isn't really the smartest blogger.

i guess that's all it takes. someone high up to chance upon your whining about your job and you have no reason to whine about your boss anymore.

Bloggers... don´t use your real names! Use damn nicknames... you´ll never get caught this way and you will be able to make fun of whoever you want.

Why should you have to protect a blogger?

The blogger should be allowed to say whatever they want.
The comany should also be allowed to fire the blogger if they see fit.

There isn't room in Nintendo known to be the land of smiles and happiness for sad and angry people.

Just wish they would give mario an axe to deal with them.

could be she was blogging about inappropriate material on company time

That last comment of hers is awesome. She sounds like a pretty cool chick.

She's never heard of using someone else's internet through Wi-fi?

Makes it A BIT harder to track her back.

I've browsed through her website and I really don't see anything that bad... My current and previous jobs meetings talked about worse things regarding the company than what's on her page... Hopefully the EFF is taking her case.

Tch. It's stupid to say anything inflammatory like that without screening for friends only and knowing who's who. Seriously, it's not like you're the only person in the world capable of using the interwebs.

@lucasreis:

She was:
"even if you're writing under a pseudonym (Zenner posted pictures of herself, despite writing under the name "Jessica Carr""

Some states have an "at-will" employment policy, which means they can fire your ass for no reason at all. I'm not sure what state she was employed in, (or the employment laws there) but it's possible they don't need to prove that she broke any rules whatsoever.

Hm... I know many tech companies that include an online rule, which usually states that you can bitch and moan about anything - except work. ANYTHING work related is company business they say, so it's fair game (like posting on a 'real' bulletin board at work, or putting things in the 'suggestion box' - the internet is considered another means, even if it is on a site that has no relation to your workplace, like your own website). So, this is hardly surprising that she got found out. Unfortunately for her, she lost a "good" job. =/ Sucks to be her, I guess...

Way to half-ass the anonymous blogging bit.

@remanance:

Why the hell would anyone try to trace some random blog complaining about an unnamed company?

Well, so much for a smarter way of doing that.

And here I was thinking we were going to get some insight on secret hush, hush, projects going down in Nintendo, instead I get angst. :(

If she blogged this from home, this is an outrage. If she blogged this from work, well, not the best of ideas.
She does sound like someone I wanna get to know, though.

i am lucky that i discussed my blog with my boss before i started my current job. he was totally cool with it and its a bit of a relief to know that i at least have one guy subscribed to my rss feed...a guy who not only pays my bills, but actually cares about me as a person. it's pretty cool :) too bad not all organizations are as flexible or forward thinking.

then again, when i have work-related stuff to bitch about, i don't think a blog is the appropriate forum...i try to keep it in the zone of "talking with some friends over a few beers in the pub", not "permanently publicly published with clear authorship."

I don't know what I am or am not protected from while writing on the internet under this pseudonym, but at least I know where to draw the line to keep myself from getting fired. If she can't put forth the effort, this is as bad as going infront of her office with a paper bag over her head while holding a sign expressing the same concerns as her blog. If someone recognizes your voice or decides to try pulling the bag off of your head, you're exposed, and fired for obvious reasons.

Hurf durf she had it comin.

QSCESZWSXASD:

Hey! My idea would've worked a bit longer if this blogger lady used it! :P

Quoted: **One plus about working with hormonal, facial-hair-growing, frumpy women is that I have found a new excuse to drink heavily. Yeah, that's right, I'm buying Grey Goose in bulk now, and I do not feel the slightest amount of shame. I am awestruck by a particular woman at work; as a matter of fact, she's inspired me to add a new character to my latest novel. She has the perfect attributes for "Beatrice" (my new character). She has atrocious frown lines that look even worse when mixed with a pompous, pretentious smirk. This person has provided me with the perfect brainwave for my new character; I get so excited when I run across an archetypal sour puss. And it gets even better…I get to see her everyday! My gut tells me that this woman hasn't been fucked in years, and is just upset about it. If you are upset about not getting laid, do something about it or fucking get over it. She frowns upon the slightest hint of sex appeal or the smallest insinuation of lust in the "workplace". My life would be even more monotonous and dreary if I wasn't sexually harassed at least once a week.

I am just so grateful to be surrounded by some of the most brilliant, pioneering minds in America.

I thinks that's it for today. **

Notice the LAST BIT? =/ That can actually get you fired, since she is using obvious sarcasm. If you were a higher up at Nintendo, is THIS person the kind of person you'd want representing YOUR company?... It's kind of unfair to the whole organization. The female boss aside, this is what the company can state as "crossing the line"... Sad to know that this chick wasn't smart enough to figure that one out! AND she was a fucking contractor to boot! Anyone with contracting experience can tell you: This was a stupid stupid thing to say - IF you get caught. And she did. =/

@consolcwby

(I've spent most of my life as a contractor and have stated to coworkers and employees how I felt.) At what point in her blog did she say she worked for Nintendo? If you saw her on the street, could you tell she worked for Nintendo? Didn't think so...

How many people do you think read her blog and could point her out on the street?

Hahahahahaaaaaaaaaahahahaaahahaaaa...

Blogger: Right to write whatever she wants.
Nintendo: Right to fire her for what she writes.

I don't know where people get this idea that the right to free speech is also some how a right to protection from the CONSEQUENCES of free speech, but it's pretty sad. If you called your boss a cunt to her face, you'd get fired. Why should there be protection if you call her a cunt on your blog?

she should go work retail, they give you way more reasons to bitch and subsequently produce more interesting blogs, id wager.

@adholmes:According to the layers.com website (everyone, get out your salt shakers), Washington is an at-will state and to overcome the at-will presumption, the fired employee "must show that the employer made clear and unequivocal statements of job security..."

So, not telling Zenner about the policy (if that is even true) is most likely not strong enough for a legal case.

And on a more editorial note, don't be dumb and this kind of stuff doesn't happen.

As a contractor in Washington state, the contracting company has the legal right to drop you if they feel that you've done anything wrong, whether it be not working up to snuff, insulting your boss, or anything else. If you think that this is a Nintendo-only thing, think again, because this could easily happen to a contractor working at Microsoft or any other video game company in the state.

@FormerZeroCool: Exactly. If she never mentioned Nintendo, then this has nothing to do with their "public image" and she essentially got fired for having a bad attitude, which sounds a lot like a thought crime to me, and would've gotten me canned many times over.
I understand that this is Nintendo's right, but it still pisses me off. Blogs are personal things that allow you to communicate with like-minded people, express yourself and provide an entertaining read, and I'd prefer if they didn't become yet another place to act "proper and decent."

Dude, at 23, she was working at Nintendo. She should have known better than to do ANYTHING that could possibly mess that up. Ninty had every right to fire her- and maybe next they'll get someone who appreciates their position (call me Nintendo!).

Nintendo may have the right to fire her, but how is this different if she was sitting at a restaurant blowing off steam to her friends and was "overheard" by someone from work.

If she didn't mention the company name or any particular person's name, she should be allowed to vent -- it's healthy. They were obviously stalking her online to find out about it (or someone was).

Nintendo has the right to let her go, but I don't see it as moral or ethical. The proper course would have been for a genial meeting that said, "Hey, we kind of have a problem with this. It's become a workplace issue since people have realized what you're talking about. It's your choice whether to remove it or not, but if you don't, we have to let you go to maintain civility here."

As a manager, that's how I would have handled it.

Sad to say, but I was fired from my last job because of my LJ (which is why I now have it Friend-Locked).

Strange thing is, I don't use my real name anywhere (I'm BPM here, there, and everywhere. Except over there where I go by the handle of Captain Cheesy Pants). Yet, somehow they linked it to me. Bleh. Oh, well. I like my current job better anyways (even if the pay is less).

Link to her blog: [inexcusablebehavior.spaces.live.com]

I find it ironic that she feels compelled to tell her life story on a blog but then has issues with a women who is behaving in a similar way at her work. What do we call this... bigotry.

So that we're all clear on this:

She did write under a pseudonym. However, she posted pictures of herself.

It's a shame.

People keep saying that she has the right to "vent" all she wants, but, to me, this seems more like a mean-spirited rant against a co-worker. What if this person was aware of what was being said about her?

- Oh, and I think the difference between a blog posting and being "overheard" in a restaurant, is that there is no expectation of privacy when you post something on the (very public) internet.

This person is probably unhappy with her job and her boss knows it. Do you think that her boss just came upon this blog accidentally? That person is probably exhibiting dissatisfaction at work and her boss probably wanted to fire her anyway. To fire someone, they must have a reason, and to have a reason, they must snoop around, and when they snoop around, you better not have anything incriminating. She did, she gets the axe.

The lesson here is not to do anything stupid, especially about your work since it is your life you are messing with.

***I just want to say that my work place is great, and my boss is also great...*** :)

@omnibot2000XL: It's not about face vs the internet, it's about employers having control over your outside life. When I'm at home or with friends I don't want to have to worry about the company I work for breathing down my neck. I knew this one person who was fired because he made some rude remark to a person when he wasn't even working, and the lady recognized him and complained to his manager and the manager fired him.

@jayntampa:
You're right, it isn't different from that case. And she shoulda been fired in that case too. If I was working for a big corporation, and insulted my boss, and someone else at work overheard, I'd definitely expect to be fired.

Personally, I'd have fired her for wearing so much (bad) makeup.

@dan: gotta admit, shes kinda hot in like 2 of those pictures when her head is at an angle.

"Microsoft fired a temp worker for his blog in 2003 after he posted a picture of several Macs arriving at Microsoft's offices."

Ahahahahaa!

No one should be fire by any reason other then the actual perfomance in the job asked .. no one is FORCED by law to "like" anyone .. social relationships are not company policy. If the boss can't live with the fact not everyone is going to love her, that is her problem.

:3

@lucasreis: That wasnt the case at all, she used a different name and still got caught because she posted a picture of herself.

I think she brought it on her own. This is Karma, you bad mouth your fellow employees...you get fired...

@Ludwig: It's not that at all, after posting that she was a pothead and an alcohol drinker, Nintendo thought it would affect her performance for one, and I am pretty sure they have Drug Awareness there...just like any other company. Plus the fact that she posted pictures of herself (wow that woman couldve been hot if it wasnt for all that make up imo) is stupid enough. She deserved to get fired.

OWNED

is all I can say.

After just reading a few lines if that, its no suprise she got the boot.

@carlogz:
"may" is not a proof of .. if her work was up to date and so do her working hours .. they have NOTHING to do with what she does on her life. If not, they could fire her on that long before.

This was a personal reason, not professional.

If this was her talking to her friends privately, or if this was her private diary which she shared with no one else or even if this was in an email between her and another person then it'd be out of line. But if you have one of these open web logs then you're putting the content out there for everyone to see. It's equivalent to posting a note saying "John Doe is a douchebag!" on a public notice board. It doesn't matter if you write down another name after it, if someone knows it was you then you'll just have to deal with it. Internet does not equal private people! It's a public place and if you don't act like you would in any other public place you're going to face the same consequences.

I have no pity for her. It's just common courtesy to not publicly bash the people that put food on your table. Whether it's unknowingly striking up a conversation with your boss' daughter in a bar and telling her how much you hate her dad, or posting it on the internet for the world to see, it's just very unprofessional.

** include.

Just to resume my point.

As Nintendo's employee her boss must represent nintendo .. the girl didn't affected nintendo in ANY way ..

The boss could "sue" her PERSONALY for defamation ..firing her was overusing her professional power for personal reasons and SHE should be fired.

@Ludwig: See, she made her own comment on how she said that she said bad things about people she works with, and thats how she probably got fired. Atleast thats what she said. So what's Nintendo's Story?? She got fired from what she is saying from her Blog in which nnot only she said bad things about her Co Workers, but she also admitted to taking Alcohol and Weed (as drugs). Like I said, Major Companies like Nintendo have Drug Policies like this (mainly due to legality and can cause effect in perofrmance). There wasnt anything in her contract about blogs, but I bet there was one with Drug and Alcohol Abuse. And you know what, Nintendo has a RIGHT to fire her then specially if there Drug and Alcohol Abuse is strict.

On a personal level, I find this hilarious, truthful, and somewhat of an injustice that she got fired....I mean, seriously, do companies pay people now to look online for their employee to see if the have myspace's and blog's, and read every detail to find some dirt on them?

What i wonder is, which dipshit wasting company time looked this up to get her fired? At least when she wrote it, i can only assume it was on HER PERSONAL UNPAID TIME, while some contentious suit is in his/her office wasting company money trying to be a wanna-be background-checker.

And on a professional level, I still find this hilarious, but on the grounds of stupidity she had it coming. There's been so many stories of people losing extremely high-paying corporate jobs because of an opinion. Most buttfucks in monkey suits don't stop to think that by firing said person, they are more than likely ruining their lives, and their families lives, and the rest of their children's lives, all because they didn't like something you said.

I think the lesson here is....if you HAVE to have a personal blog, either keep it offline in MS Word, or post it not mentioning anything even resembling personal or professional information...THIS MEANS PICTURES!!!!

The girl said that she 'thinks' she got fired because she bashed her coworkers, but that was it..'she thinks' that means there is more to the story. I dont think its much more of a bashing problem, its more of a druggy problem. And yes, Weed is a gateway drug so it is a drug problem.

@whalleywhat:
"Blogs are personal things that allow you to communicate with like-minded people, express yourself and provide an entertaining read"

Blogs that anyone can see (no password protection, not friend locks, etc) aren't private areas that allow you to communicate with like-minded people. They might very well be personal but they're also public. When you write a blog or even comment in a blog like we're doing you are putting it out there for everyone to see, from those who agree with you to those who think your every breath is poisoning the world a little bit more. And even worse than real life they're public and archived so what you've said is going to be around for a lot longer than if you were just complaining to a friend in meatspace, not to mention a whole lot harder to deny. My god in heaven do I wish more people would understand this concept.

...Though this will make politics a lot more interesting in a few decades.