Firefighter claims she was fired over racy Instagram posts

These days, you've got to be careful about what you post on social media. More and more companies seem to be examining the social media history of their employees, and monitoring what people write, post, and say in their personal lives.

Indeed, it seems as though sometimes this social media policing can border on the puritanical, and can lead to people actually being fired as a result of how they choose to represent themselves online.

For instance, a female firefighter who hails from Montana claims that she's been fired due to photos she posted on social media.

Per a recent report by the Daily Inter Lake, a former firefighter and paramedic named Presley Pritchard has filed a complaint with the Montana Human Rights Bureau, alleging that she was wrongfully dismissed over her blogging history.

Worryingly, Prichard also alleges that she was the victim of multiple instances of sexual harassment over the course of her nearly three-year career with the Evergreen FD.

Court documents show that her superiors took particular issue with her posing in her firefighting gear, and issued Pritchard verbal and written warnings claiming she'd utilized taxpayer resources for her own benefit. They added that she had wrongfully posted a photo taken at the scene of an accident.

However, Prichard cites a double standard with regard to this policy, and her complaint states: "Several male employees in the department have photos of themselves in uniforms and turnouts in front of fire trucks and at the department on their social media accounts.

She continues: "Importantly, Evergreen Fire Department does not have a social media policy and never has. I was directly targeted due to how I looked in my gym attire at a public gym... I was asked to remove all my posts from social media even though there was no social media policy."

Following the warnings, Pritchard took five weeks of medical leave to undergo surgery. Upon returning to work on August 15, she was fired that same day.

Recently this lunch lady was allegedly fired for giving food to hungry students: 

Commenting on the case, Chief Craig Williams stated: "The District takes very seriously all allegations it receives concerning workplace conditions."

He added: "While the Complainant never made or reported any allegations to the District while she was employed, the District hired an independent investigator to complete an investigation concerning the validity of the complaints. After a thorough investigation, no evidence was found to support any of the Complainant’s allegations.”