Man Goes on Hunger Strike for the Right to Post Anything Online Without Getting Fired

It’s
quite
common these days for employees to get fired over their
social media activity. Despite privacy settings, it’s amazing
how many people manage to lose their jobs over ridiculous
things they post online. And it’s not just about losing a job,
it’s about getting one too – prospective employers just won’t
consider candidates without scrutinizing their online profiles
first.
Well, the job market sure is tough, but there do exist a few
kind souls who believe that our social lives and professional
lives should be kept separate by law. Like Brian Zulberti, a
Delaware lawyer who is currently on a hunger strike to raise
awareness about this issue. He’s actually posted a number of
unclad photos of himself online, in the past, and he wants the
right to keep doing things like that it without it affecting his
professional career.
“This is about privacy and the advancement of technology,”
said Zulberti. “Soon it will be the total informative age, privacy
out the window. The best we can do is adapt the law to the
future now so we don’t turn into 1984, George Orwell style.”
I can see why it’s difficult to take Zulberti seriously – he’s
trying to make his case while resting on a reclining chair,
wearing a hat that says ‘Us Versus Them’ and a shirt with a
picture of himself posing unclad in front of the Capitol
Building. But I suppose he deserves to be heard. After all, the
man is a victim himself.
Zulberti was fired as a high school tennis coach for a few
comments that he wrote about an opposing team’s player. In
2013, he applied for a string of jobs by sending out a picture of
himself in a rolled-up t-shirt, instead of a resume. He
managed to become a minor internet celebrity, as a result, but
he didn’t really secure any jobs. Then, he posted a picture of
himself wearing nothing but underwear on Facebook with a
sign begging people to hire him as a lawyer (not an escort).
These are extremely unconventional ways of looking for
employment, almost guaranteed to fail. But Zulberti is a man
with a cause, and it doesn’t look like he’s giving up any time
soon. The Villanova Law School graduate has been traveling
around the United States, trying to draw attention to various
cases of people being fired for their messages on social
media. The unclad pictures are just a ruse, he says, to get
people to pay attention to the issue. “Look, if I’ve got to get
your eyes to my man-hood to see the problems with the
nation, then so be it.”
Zulberti, who says that he is ‘about as gay as the day is long’,
recently visited New Jersey to talk about Sam Falcetano, a
Department of Public Works employee. Sam was fired for
writing homophobic posts on Facebook. Interestingly, Zulberti
wasn’t bothered by the comments at all – he said that he may
wish horrible things upon the man, but he still shouldn’t have
been fired.