Oscar Wilde once wrote, “Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.”
It wasn’t until recently that the follies of our youth could be preserved indefinitely on the internet, waiting to resurface at some later, inopportune time. I was on Newstalk 1010 with Jerry Agar last week discussing the termination of Braiden Bell, a 29-year-old sports broadcaster who landed a dreamy gig as the new television play-by-play announcer for the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers only to be fired hours later when alleged racist and sexist tweets he had written as a teenager resurfaced.
The tweets dated back to 2012 and 2013, when Bell was approximately 15 years old. The comments were unquestionably offensive, and Bell has since apologized, explaining that they do not reflect the person he is today.
There is something deeply unsettling about the idea that teenage mistakes can follow someone indefinitely, particularly when we spend so much time teaching young people about accountability, maturity and second chances.
But there is another side to this story that deserves equal consideration, starting with a fairly obvious question: how were these tweets still publicly searchable?
Bell controlled his own social media account and was pursuing a highly visible career in professional sports broadcasting. Surely someone seeking that level of public exposure ought to understand that his online history would be scrutinized.
Review digital footprint
Common sense has to enter the equation somewhere. Anyone aspiring to a public-facing career should conduct a thorough review of their digital footprint long before signing an employment contract.
There is also a tendency to cast the employer as the villain in these situations, but I am not convinced that is completely fair.
The Trail Blazers were suddenly confronted with offensive tweets posted by their newly hired broadcaster, with players, sponsors and fans watching their response. Once the controversy became public, the organization was effectively hamstrung. Continuing on with Bell in the organization’s broadcasting seat could have been interpreted as condoning his remarks, regardless of when they were made.
As an employment lawyer, I appreciate that employers do not make disciplinary decisions in a vacuum. In Canada, off-duty misconduct can have workplace consequences, particularly where reputational harm is involved. If you are the face of an organization, what you do, personally and professionally, can impact the company’s goodwill and public image.
But Bell’s case also exposes a failure in the hiring process. The Trail Blazers acknowledged they had fallen short in vetting candidates, like Bell, for the role.
Lesson for employers
For employers recruiting public-facing employees, the lesson is straightforward: conduct a lawful, job-related social media and internet review before extending an offer, not after announcing the hire. A termination just hours into an employment relationship is embarrassing for everyone and hardly inspires confidence in management’s judgment.
Employees should be equally proactive. Review your public profiles, search your own name on the internet and consider whether anything in your online history could undermine your professional credibility.
Deleting an old post will not erase every screenshot, but ignoring your digital footprint is no longer sensible career management.
And for employers, if troubling material surfaces, investigate the context and assess whether it genuinely warrants termination rather than automatically reaching for a zero-tolerance policy. Sometimes addressing these issues with a proactive plan can limit exposure and salvage the working relationship.
Bell’s lawyer has sought reinstatement, proposing education and community engagement. Whether that would adequately address the concerns is debatable.
The lesson from this case is not that employers should overlook offensive behaviour or that employees deserve immunity for youthful indiscretions. It is that prevention, proportionality and common sense should play a greater role in employment decisions.
Our past may follow us, but it should not always be permitted to determine our future.
Sunira Chaudhri
Founding Partner, Workly Law
Originally published in the
Toronto Sun.
Have a workplace problem? Maybe I can help! Email sunira@worklylaw.com and your question may be featured in a future column. The content of this article is general information only and is not legal advice.
