Nintendo employee fired for blogging

Written by Joe Martin

September 24, 2007 | 09:41

Tags: #blog #fired #wordpress

Companies: #facebook #myspace #nintendo

Speaking as somebody who hasn't just made a fool of himself on the internet once or twice, but has actually made a living out of posting all types of news, opinions and rumours on Bit-tech as well as a personal blog, I have to confess that I'm just a little bit worried about the news coming out of Nintendo recently.

I'm referring of course to Jessica Zenner, a 23 year old contractor for Nintendo who has been formally fired for posting inappropriate comments on her personal blog. Jessica, who posted under the pseudonym of Jessica Carr, was unaware of Nintendo’s scrutiny and thought she was protected by her right to freedom of speech.

Not so.

Zenner's blog, called "The Daily Weed", never mentions Nintendo directly but does covers a number of personal topics. According to Seattle newspaper The Stranger, these include "disputing her friends' perception that she is a pothead".

Most controversial however is the post about Zenners bosses:

"One plus about working with [a] hormonal, facial-hair-growing, frumpy [woman] is that I have found a new excuse to drink heavily...My gut tells me that this woman hasn't been ****ed in years."

The dismissal obviously again raises the question about just what is and isn't acceptable for a company employee to say in their free time. Zenner herself claims that she was never informed about the Nintendo policy on employee blogging, but a Nintendo spokeswoman claims that Jessica was "expressly discouraged from doing what she did".

What do you think? Should employees be held responsible for their output outside of the office, or should they be free to shout their opinions from the rooftops? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
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