Shannon Sullivan, a summer intern at the Disney College Program, was fired after sharing a picture on social media.
The picture was of a sign that management had tacked to the wall, asking employees not to let on to guests that they have seen alligators in the surrounding area. Considering this appeared just about a month after 2-year-old Lane Graves was killed by an alligator at a Disney resort, Sullivan became uncomfortable with the message and felt as if she needed to share it. She posted a picture of the sign to Twitter and, attracting a significant amount of attention, the Chicago Tribune reports that she was quickly fired.
Https://twitter.com/SandraPedicini/status/754039622070636545
The sign requests that employees specifically deny that they have seen any alligators, and provides them with a proper response in case any guests ask. “I was very offended by it and I was pretty vocal about it,” Sullivan told the Orlando Sentinel. “I think you need to be telling people to be cautious, letting them know this could happen.” She said that she was aware that she could lose her job by posting the photo, but “it became about my morals and integrity and what I believe in.”
Sullivan was quickly rehired when the issue came to Disney’s (DIS) attention. The company told the Orlando Sentinel that the sign had not been authorized, but employees also aren’t allowed to post photos on social media of the park’s private areas, and others have been fired for similar offenses.