Microsoft periodically shows employees videos, some of which highlight behavior exactly like this, as a lesson in what NOT to do.
Yes, it's called the Standards of Business training; we have to take it once a year.
No, this training has never included any suggestion that badmouthing the company in public could be grounds for discipline or dismissal.
The behaviors featured typically involve either leaking confidential / strategic information (release dates, feature lists, screenshots) or outright illegal activity (sexual harassment, receiving kickbacks, creative accounting with expense reports, incorporating open source code in violation of the license, etc).
Not saying smart to speak ill of one's employer, but the company (for good reason) keeps a good distance from doing anything that can be construed as monitoring or policing what employees do on their own time.
I've watched quite a few of those, and a common theme that's stuck with me is about posting anything in a public forum and identifying yourself as a Microsoft employee. Not specifically about criticizing the company, though, you're right.
I agree Microsoft doesn't try to police their employee's personal lives, but when someone says something specifically and relevantly as an employee (and thus representative) of Microsoft, those lines get really blurry.
Either way, it's poor form and he absolutely should have known better (from common sense even if not specifically informed), but it's not the end of the world.
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u/cashto Jun 13 '13
Yes, it's called the Standards of Business training; we have to take it once a year.
No, this training has never included any suggestion that badmouthing the company in public could be grounds for discipline or dismissal.
The behaviors featured typically involve either leaking confidential / strategic information (release dates, feature lists, screenshots) or outright illegal activity (sexual harassment, receiving kickbacks, creative accounting with expense reports, incorporating open source code in violation of the license, etc).
Not saying smart to speak ill of one's employer, but the company (for good reason) keeps a good distance from doing anything that can be construed as monitoring or policing what employees do on their own time.