-Barnes had duty of care to Brown-
Online recruitment agency, RecruitmentRevolution.com, has commented on yesterday’s resignation of Paris Brown, the seventeen year old Kent Police Youth Crime Commissioner. Brown resigned after media reports that she had made “racist and homophobic” comments on her personal Twitter account and Police announced that they would be investigating.
A survey of 1,700 UK employers, undertaken by RecruitmentRevolution.com, found that almost three quarters of employers regularly check the social media pages and profiles of potential employees before offering them roles. Only 27 per cent of employers surveyed do not check Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media sites for information on job candidates.
Anna Taylor, Co-founder and director or RecruitmentRevolution.com commented, “Kent Police and Crime Commissioner, Ann Barnes, had a duty of care to investigate the social media profile of Paris Brown prior to offering her the role of Youth Police Crime Commissioner. Paris Brown has been savaged by the media for comments that she posted when she was still a minor and she is now the subject of a Police investigation. Had Ms Barnes checked the social media profiles of the candidates, it is unlikely that Ms Brown would have been placed in this position.”
“This case also raises a serious issue for teachers and parents. We need to educate our young people that whatever they post on social media is on public record, can be easily discovered online and can come back to haunt them.” concludes Taylor.