CASE 8 - A

1) What is the situation/context?

Mark Jen, an employee at Google, was fired within 11 days of his joining the company. No reason or
justification was given to him from his managers but Jen suspected it was due to the blog,
“ninetyninezeroes” he had been writing. The blog was intended mainly for his family and friends and
consisted of his personal observations at his current workplace, especially drawn in comparison with
his previous job at Microsoft. They had earlier asked him to first remove all the posts and then
repost the deleted articles with the deletion of the sensitive information about Google products and
company’s finances. No benefit package was offered to him and the sudden dismissal had sent
shockwaves across the blogosphere.

2) Ethical Conflict/Dilemma in the same?

The dismissal seemed unjust as Jen had examined the company policy and had found nothing on
blogging mentioned in it. He had examined the confidentiality agreement too and concluded that it
did not prevent him from writing a blog. No benefit package was provided either.

The same dilemma applies as to whether Jen should have deleted and republished his contents on
Google’s request as it was done on a non-corporate website and belonged to the sphere of an
employee’s private life.

Also, what should an employee in the event of no policies or disclosure about blogging from the
company’s end.

3) Application of the appropriate framework/theoretic lens

The theoretic lens applicable here are the ones related to Employee rights.

4) Choices/Option to choose, if any?

Even though the blog was on a personal sphere, Jen could have refrained from disclosing public
figures such as Google’s profits and revenue which as mentioned in the case might have
inadvertently run afoul of federal securities regulations on fair disclosure.

Since no clear guidelines were mentioned, Jen could have asked his Managers for further clarity and
accurate instructions before continuing blogging about his workplace as it involves multiple risks.

Google should have also cleared things out with Jen first before going ahead with his dismissal.

5) Appreciation of any risks along the way

Blogging is not equivalent to having a whispered conversation; they’re more similar to speaking to
crowded public places. By posting Google’s financial data on his blog, Jen was jeopardizing not only
Google but also his job.
Also, the content gets cached on the web and sometimes it may not be enough to just edit and
republish them.

Lastly, it is always advisable to ask the manager or HR about the company blogging policies and
disclosure agreements before starting a venture.