Bragging has many pitfalls.
Especially when there’s a confidentiality agreement that prohibits one from doing so!
Patrick Snay was the headmaster at Gulliver Preparatory School in Miami for a number of years before his contract wasn’t renewed there. He sued the school for age discrimination, and won a settlement of $80,000 in 2011. Part of the settlement terms, however, was that he had to sign a confidentially agreement.
So, when his daughter Dana Snay, who goes to Boston College, wrote on Facebook about the case, turns out, it was a big No No – Especially since she went to the school her father worked at, and she still had many friends from the school!
She wrote:
“Mama and Papa Snay won the case against Gulliver. Gulliver is now officially paying for my vacation to Europe this summer. SUCK IT.”
Word got back to the board at Gulliver about the post, and the school’s lawyers appealed the verdict. And they got it overturned! Erasing the $80,000 they owed Papa Snay!
Here’s what the judge in the matter said:
“Snay violated the agreement by doing exactly what he had promised not to do. His daughter then did precisely what the confidentiality agreement was designed to prevent.”
Patrick Snay argued in the depositions that he had to tell his daughter something, but his words went unheeded. He had apparently said:
“We knew what the restrictions were, yet we needed to tell her something.”
Patrick Snay is now a headmaster at another school, and is allowed to ask for a retrial, and to also appeal.
However one legal expert doesn’t think the headmaster has a chance! Attorney Bradley Shear said:
“It depends on the terms of the confidentiality contract; each one is different, but the damage is likely done. Some confidentiality agreements stipulate that the client cannot tell people who are not involved in the case: others prohibit anyone from knowing. Facebook is a public forum, even if her profile is set to private, and that’s where the mistake was made. The bottom line is, when involved in legal proceedings, don’t disclose anything on social media. It’s not worth it.”
We’re not sure who is to blame here. Either the father should have told his daughter not to write about his verdict on any social media, or his daughter should not have bragged on Facebook.
Either way, we doubt she’ll be getting as much money for her vacation now! What an expensive lesson!
[Image via Dana Snay/Facebook.]