Repeat after me:

“Everything I (or my friend) (or my friends’ friends) say about me online can be used against me FOREVER”.

Case in point – an ambulance operator in Texas posts a comment about giving unruly passengers a “boot to the head”.  His employer promptly terminates the ambulance techs involved.

From TheRegister.Co.Uk:

Ignorance about Facebook privacy settings is no excuse for complaining about the consequences of publishing off-colour online comments, a US judge has ruled.Robert J Sumien, an emergency medical technician in Texas, wrote a Facebook wall post about giving “boot to the head” to unruly patients. The comment came to the attention of his employers, CareFlite, an ambulance service and medical transportation firm, who showed him the door.Sumien sued for privacy invasion and wrongful termination of his employment contract. He claimed that his employer invaded his privacy because he misunderstood a coworker’s Facebook settings and didn’t realise comments he made on a colleague’s wall would be seen by others inside and outside the hospital.The comment that resulted in Sumien getting the sack came after his ambulance partner, Jan Roberts, posted a comment on the Facebook wall of CareFlite worker Scott Schoenhardt, suggesting she wanted to slap a patient she had recently transported. This started a discussion about what to do with unruly patients, prompting Sumien’s comments.Both Roberts and Sumien were reported over the comments and both were fired. Sumien sued but a court rejected claims that he had any expectation of privacy about comments posted on a Facebook wall.A trial judge rejected Sumien’s claims that he intended the comments only to be seen by his close friends and threw out his unlawful dismissal claim, a decision recently upheld by a Texas appeal court ruling, extract below.http://www.2ndcoa.courts.state.tx.us/opinions/pdfOpinion.asp?OpinionID=23493

via Yes, you can be sacked for making dodgy Facebook posts • The Register.