robskynyc said: "Princeton2 said: "seems to be dangerous territory that you can be suspended for private messages"
100% agree. that is bull! private messages are private. I'm sure i share things in private texts with friends that I would never share via social media. If they were tweeting the stuff publicly, I can see the problem. Or if they communications were made on a NYCB owned device.But private communications should be just that, PRIVATE. Whether we agree with their opinions or not. I know I wouldn't want my employer reading all my texts... or grindr messages for that reason :-p
and before any one gets too riled up, yes i know we dont know what the texts say. but that is irrelevant- unless they were making some sort of credible threat against someone in the ballet, i dont see how private texts/emails have any bearing on their job?"
I'm going to take your post as an opportunity to maybe guide people on how to properly act as a working, functioning adult for a company where there are other employees who are subject to the laws of New York or any other state. This is just a general message and is not entirely comprehensive about all legal issues that may arise.
First off, just because something is in a private message DOES NOT mean it automatically protects you from facing the consequences when people on the outside get a hold of the content of your messages, including employers. It's not the same issue of your employer monitoring messages on your private devices because they did not do that. However, if someone brought it to their attention that you are engaging in activities that are detrimental to the environment of the company that puts them in a position of liability, such as creating a toxic, predatory environment where other employees feel unsafe and have had their privacy violated, then employers have every right and SHOULD terminate you. In the end this is a lesson about how your actions have consequences.
It's not the fact that they were sending private messages in of itself that got them in trouble but the environment in which they created that made other employees feel unsafe. There's also a question of the legality of the actions that they were engaging in and how they put the NYCB in harm's way now that there is a PR fall out AND a question of whether NYCB is liable to pay for damages to the victim in this case. Plus, considering how big that private chat has gotten and what they were encouraging other people to do, I bet more victims may come out and other members of NYCB (like other employees) and persons outside NYCB will be implicated. It sounds like something that started small and private, though no less wrong, became much bigger and less private.
Let's remember that the reason these dancers have been suspended and are in trouble was the fact that a person who was secretly filmed while performing sexual activities got a hold of the messages and found out that the videos and images of such secret filming were being shared among the members of the NYCB. Those messages also revealed that members of the NYCB were encouraging other members of filming other women and sharing those images/footage with or without their knowledge and to share it with many other people such as a donor and even a pimp, according to the allegations. Those messages were then brought to the attention of the NYCB. The NYCB did NOT monitor private messages on the dancer's private devices, but again, if someone brings it to their attention and if the messages are showing the dancers are engaging in activities that may be illegal and/or detrimental to the environment of the company, then the suspension/firing may be warranted.
And before you say we do no know the content of the messages ourselves, that is correct. All we have to go on is the complaint that was filed in court. What I do know is that the NYCB most likely did receive copies of these texts, investigated, interviewed the parties involved, and decided to suspend two of the dancers while Finlay resigned probably because he had no real defense or could not show that he did not commit the actions that would have gotten him suspended/fired.
Updated On: 9/6/18 at 09:47 AM
" Finlay allegedly complied, sending "one 'live' (i.e. short-second video burst)" of him and Waterbury engaged in a sexual act, then demanded that Ramasar send one in exchange. After they shared multiple images of various Ballet members, Finlay allegedly wrote, "Already seen that one. I know you have more."
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