The consequences of employees writing anonymously on the web and making false accusations against their employer are clear from a story published in The Sunday Times on 2nd June 2013.
The story states that a Ryanair pilot has resigned from his job and apologised to the airline for making false statements on the internet about its safety procedures.
The first officer with Ryanair since 2010, resigned in April, and posted apologies on the Professional Pilots Rumour Network (PPRuNe) website, which is popular with professional pilots, on May 10 and 11.
He had used the username ‘Built4Speed’ following incidents last summer when three Ryanair flights declared fuel maydays when coming into land at Valencia airport. There was a spate of media and online comment about the airline’s operating procedures and more recently programmes on Dutch TV.
However, Ryanair took legal action in Los Angeles, where the site is hosted, and the Irish High Court to uncover 17 posters it accused of defaming it on the website. The pilot apologised for his false claims and resigned.
The consequences of posting false information, using anonymous usernames, are clear should the employer take legal action to uncover the anonymous source.
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