his workplace was harassed until he was fired:
This is an increasingly common tactic used by people who disagree with other people.
You're a racist? Let's get you fired:
http://gettingracistsfired.com...
You're a scumbag who doesn't deliver on a kickstarter? Let's bother your parents:
https://www.kickstarter.com/pr...
Sure, this isn't new - the latter is just an extension of small-town "you come around here doing that again and I'll be talking to your mama". But the motive and intent are different. It's not about the parents being the authority figure instilling some sense into the kid, but about harassing the parents so that they, too, will blame the 'kid' for woes.
In the former case, it hinges on when things you say are personal, and when they are things you say as a representative of a company.
Post on company blog - company.
Post on facebook with place of employ listed - apparently, company.
Post on twitter with no place of employ listed but people find out through your name and location anyway - according to that blog, company.
Post on a random forum under a pseudonym but given enough searching around have your place of employ found - if you're thinking this should be personal, you're disagreeing with that site.
Increasingly, "what you do in your personal time is your own business" no longer flies, because whatever you do in your personal time can - thanks to the pressure power of social media - very much become your employer's business... even if they have no issue with you personally, but get negative attention for employing you.
Any outside activity must not interfere with your ability to properly perform your job duties
- From one employee manual, in context about outside employment but easily interpreted to also apply to these cases.