Several people around the country have been fired for posting "inappropriate" material on their blog. These include:

• Michael Hanscom, fired from Microsoft for posting a picture of Macs received at the software giant
• J. Matt Barber, fired from Allstate over his pro-marriage beliefs
• Gregg Easterbrook, fired by ESPN for questioning Disney's motives in backing Kill Bill
• Ellen Simonetti, fired by Delta Air Lines for posting pictures of herself in uniform
• Mark Jen, fired by Google for criticizing his employer
• Joyce Park, fired by Friendster for posting a surprising short blog containing already public material about her employer
• Jessica Cutler, fired by Senator Mike DeWine (R) for posting her politically enhanced sex life
• Heather Armstrong, fired by an unnamed Web design company for posting office antics in her blog
• Matthew Brown, fired by Starbucks for anonymously venting about his boss

I stopped blogging when I started working at my current employer for this very reason. Whether you like it or not, employers can and DO fire people simply for blogging (especially in states governed by at-will employment laws, like California). I will now only be publishing fiction on this site. Anything you read on this site either a) is fiction, or b) was written before I got hired.

If you think it's pathetic that companies can fire people for blogging, join the fight for bloggers' rights at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

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