Comments on: Did the Internet Kill Privacy?
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- How utterly ludicrous. The parent who complained, the head teacher of the school and the Board of Governors should collectively have their heads banged together for indulging in such stupidity. I hope the lady in question gets a better paid job working for peple who are less anally retentive. She's been the victim in all this.
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- More info on Ashley Payne's story collected from the links provided at the bottom of this post:
On the morning of Aug. 27, 2009, Superintendent Ron Saunders received an anonymous email from an individual claiming to be the parent of an AHS student. The email stated that Payne had "unacceptable pictures of herself smiling with alcohol for all her online friends to view" and had used profanity on her Facebook page.
Within hours, Payne was called to meet with Apalachee High School principal David McGee and assistant principal Dorann Mansberger regarding the complaint.
During the meeting, McGee allegedly told Payne that her online conduct was unacceptable and that if she did not resign, she would be suspended. McGee further advised that a suspension would adversely affect her chances for future employment.
During recent depositions, McGee admitted suggesting that Payne resign and that he did not discuss Payne's options regarding a disciplinary hearing. McGee also admitted that he did not know who sent the anonymous email complaint and did not attempt to learn the identity of Payne's accuser. (Prior to the deposition, school system spokesperson Lisa Leighton told the media the identity of the e-tipper was known.)
As a result of the meeting with McGee and Mansberger, Payne tendered her resignation. She subsequently claimed she was not informed of her right to a hearing, nor was it disclosed that a suspension could only be for a period of ten days.
In the school system's response to Payne's lawsuit, McGee denied warning Payne that a suspension would adversely affect her chances for future employment and maintained he did not tell her to resign.
Payne's suit accuses the Barrow County School system of violating the provisions of the Georgia Fair Dismissal Act.
Payne initially requested legal relief in which Barrow County Schools would be compelled to provide written notice of the charges against her and arrange a hearing in which she will be allowed to contest the charges. Payne further requested her legal fees be paid and that she receive full compensation under the terms of her contract beginning from the date of her "constructive termination" until such time as she is provided a hearing. Now that her teaching contract has expired, Payne's attorney said, the school system "can't be forced" to rehire Payne. She is still seeking back pay and legal fees.
The back pay she is seeking amounts to less than $30k.
In the fall of 2010, the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, which investigates ethics complaints against teachers, reviewed Payne's case and found no probable cause to issue a sanction.
http://www.barrowjournal.com/archives/2385-Storrs-BCS-unwilling-to-settle.html
http://www.barrowjournal.com/archives/4454-Former-AHS-teacher-waits-for-day-in-court.html
http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2009/11/13/barrow-teacher-done-in-by-anonymous-e-mail-with-perfect-punctuation/ - Reply to this comment
- Paynes' social life is different from her profession. If she is not causing any harm to anyone, why not let her live her life outside of her profession the way that she wants?
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- Bush and the fourth Reich killed privacy and freedom.
Now the Republicans are planning the fight Reich. - Reply to this comment
- No. Liberal Democrats killed privacy. They meddle in everything. They are privacy-N A Z I s
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- Employers are using people's online social-media postings as a means of control and extortion.
If an employer is looking for an excuse to get rid of a few people without paying unemployment, they just go to their Facebook pages, find a few compromising photos and then extort the employees into quiting their jobs.
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- When I was school child years ago in foster homes ..Foster mother went thru my book bag..I was floored..that was before computers. She went thru every thing. I was pissed. I have heard the b,f,n words..I am 56.
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- Re: "There's an Erin F. Moriarty who grew up just a few miles where you did, who has been convicted of serving alcohol to minors," Fertik said. "And it'd be very easy for a machine to confuse you and that person, and to think that you are a convicted criminal."
Don't you people find it just a little ironic that you, supposedly concerned about the disappearance of privacy, dragged this other Erin F. Moriarty into the national spotlight -- a spotlight her apparent crime doesn't begin to justify -- merely because she had the misfortune to have the same last name as your correspondent? Did you even discuss the ethics of that? -- Dan Kelly, Hopkins, Minnesota - Reply to this comment
- The internet and social networking sites are the greatest too for today's serial killer and sexula sadist...No longer do they haev to spend time finding victims, the victims coem right to them via their network pages...It still amazes how naieve and gullible people are..to put your daily routine and intimate details online for all to see is begging for somebody to make you a victim...Parents who do not monitor their children's online activities are asking for trouble and have no excuse when their child suffers at the hands of a predator..Wake up people, the internet is not what you think it is.
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- Everything out there for your use is not compatible for your use. Use common sense!!!! Facebook, Twitter, etc. is going to get a lot of people in trouble. Nothing is sacred(privacy)anymore!
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