An Australian work tribunal found a woman who unfriended a co-worker on Facebook guilty of workplace bullying, reported The Telegraph.
Rachel Roberts, an employee of the View real estate agency, filed a complaint with the Australian Fair Work Commission, citing 18 examples of workplace bullying committed by the real estate company's owner and his wife Lisa Bird, a sales administrator at the company.
Roberts claimed that her work had been intentionally unprocessed for nine days, her properties had not been displayed in the business's front window and that she was not allowed to answer the phone while Bird was at work. Roberts was also apparently upset that Bird didn't say "good morning" to her, according to RT.
At one point after Roberts asked the owner why her properties had not been displayed in the front window, Bird confronted Roberts and called her a "naughty little school girl running to the teacher." After that confrontation, Roberts left the office crying and checked Facebook to see if any negative comments had been posted about the incident, which was when she saw that Bird had unfriended her. Roberts said that Bird's behavior caused her anxiety and depression that required medication, according to The Australian.
While the Facebook unfriending wasn't the sole reason for the commission handing the workplace bullying ruling, the commission's deputy president, Nicole Wells, specifically took issue with it, saying it showed a "lack of emotional maturity and is indicative of unreasonable behavior," The Telegraph reported.
"The 'schoolgirl' comment... is evidence of an inappropriate dealing with Ms Roberts which was provocative and disobliging," Wells said. "I am of the view that Mrs Bird took the first opportunity to draw a line under the relationship with Ms Roberts on 29 January 2015, when she removed her as a friend on Facebook as she did not like Ms Roberts and would prefer not to have to deal with her."
