Ethiopian Review

A Casey’s General Store clerk fired for creating a Web video showing the company’s pizza-making process is retaliating via YouTube.

Tierney Israel, 19, of Pleasantville is one of a growing number of Iowans who have lost their jobs for sharing certain kinds of material with the rest of the world via Facebook, MySpace or YouTube. In the past year, a police officer, a county deputy, a county corrections officer and others have been fired for the manner in which they used social networking sites. Some of the cases involved dissemination of sexually oriented material, while others involved the disclosure of corporate information.

Casey’s fired Israel after her boss discovered that she had uploaded to the Web at least three videos that she shot inside the Pleasantville store where she worked. One of the videos showed how Casey’s pizzas are prepared, which violated a company policy that prohibits workers from revealing corporate secrets. The video also included satirical material that showed a “disgruntled” Casey’s employee waving a knife at a customer portrayed by Israel’s sister.

In late April, Israel’s supervisor learned of the video and of two others that were uploaded to the Web in 2007. The two earlier videos featured another Casey’s employee making pizza and singing while inside the store. The direction and editing were credited to Israel.

Three days after Israel was fired, she posted another video to YouTube called “F— Casey’s.” The profanity-laced video, which is still online, is prefaced with a written description of its contents: “Listen to Tierney (expletive) about being treated like (expletive) by a company that doesn’t give a (expletive) about anyone but their greedy selves.”

In the YouTube clip, Israel defends her previous videos, saying, “I like to have fun. Who doesn’t, you know, like to have fun at work? … I’m not here to hurt people or break the rules and (expletive).”

Tierney said last week that she was attending college and studying English and journalism. She said she hoped her video wouldn’t hurt her chances of landing a new job.

“I really hope it doesn’t affect any future jobs, as the only reason I did it is because I was treated unfairly by Casey’s and wanted to express my anger at the way I was treated,” she said.

In Israel’s written description of the YouTube clip, viewers are encouraged to donate to the “Tierney Is Now Jobless Fund.”

After Israel was fired, Casey’s unsuccessfully contested her application for unemployment benefits. The matter went to a public hearing before Administrative Law Judge James Timberland, who found that while Israel’s actions showed a “willful disregard” for Casey’s interests, the company waited too long – eight days – to speak to Israel after it learned of her conduct.

Timberland said Israel’s pizza-making video shared proprietary information and clearly “demonstrated open hostility and a threat directed at customers and staff.”

- By CLARK KAUFFMAN | Des Moines Register