A flight attendant in New Zealand was recently forced to show her Facebook page to her former employer in order to get her job back.
Gina Kensington was fired by Air New Zealand after she took sick leave to care for her sister.
Managers at Air New Zealand claimed Kensington misused her sick leave and fired her a short time later.
The flight attendant said she did not misuse her sick leave and asked the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) to reinstate her position.
For her part Ms. Kensington says New Zealand didn’t have her Facebook or banking information when they fired her. The plaintiff’s lawyer says “it is well accepted in New Zealand there are general and legal privacy expectations about people’s personal and financial information”.
The ERA disagreed with the flight attendants lawyers and asked that she provide her Facebook information to re-obtain her position with Air New Zealand.
According to Tania Tetitaha of the ERA, “The explanation for taking sick leave must be tested for veracity.”
Facebook privacy has become a major concern all around the world as employers use publicly posted information to hire and fire workers at will.
The courts decision over the Air New Zealand firing has not been released at this time.
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