Retailer CFO Loses Job Over Social Media Posts

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Maybe this is why so few CFOs use social media. Women's clothing retailer Francesca's fired its CFO today for his tweets and Facebook posts that revealed too much about the company.

Francesca's issued a press release announcing the decision but didn't mention which posts, specifically, were of concern. However, the statement said that Gene Morphis had "improperly communicated Company information through social media." Below are two examples of Morphis's Facebook posts.

Francesca FB Post 1

  Francesca FB Post 2

In another post, Morphis criticized co-sponsors of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act, a law that defines financial reporting standards: 

"Audit committee. Damn you Paul Sarbanes! Damn you Michael Oxley!"

Discussion Starters:

  • What should be the social media guidelines for corporate CFOs? Should they differ from guidelines for all employees?
  • Was the Board right in terminating Morphis?
  • What could have been done to prevent this situation?