Nazi Salute, Bad Bad Ad, and 4 Examples of Workplace Misconduct in the News: Sept 2026

Online behaviors create real people and brand risk. For HR and TA leaders who have followed this series before, that shouldn’t be a surprise. But what will surprise you are the four examples of workplace misconduct making headlines this September. Spanning the public sector, travel and logistics, and media and entertainment, explore recent workplace scandals and why proactive, compliant social media screening can protect your people and your brand. 

Why should HR care about online misconduct?

Workplace misconduct is behavior that violates company policy, professional standards, or the law and harms an organization’s people, performance, or reputation. That includes harassment, discrimination, threats and violence, and sexually explicit behavior, whether it happens at the office, in public, or on social media. 

No matter where misconduct occurs, it’s frequently showing up online. Once online, both the perpetrator and their employer are subjected to public backlash and pressured to respond. 

Any employer who’s faced social media backlash before knows it spreads like wildfire. It sends PR and Marketing into crisis communications mode, HR and Compliance into investigation mode, and Talent Acquisition into ‘find a replacement’ mode. But that’s not all. Online misconduct also impacts an employer's:

• Brand reputation: It takes years for an employer to build a trusted brand with their audience. When an employee’s behavior violates that brand promise, key business stakeholders can lose trust in the business. Employees want to know whether misconduct will be tolerated. Customers want to know whether the brand stands by its values. Shareholders want to know how much damage was done. And job candidates want to know whether your brand is still worth applying to. For brands, even the best response may not be enough to overcome the scandal. 
• Regulatory compliance: Misconduct invites litigation, regulatory scrutiny, and negligent-hiring claims. Employers can be held responsible for high-risk employee behaviors, whether they knew about it or reasonably should have known. Regulators around the world are increasingly requiring proactive risk mitigation across fraud and non-financial misconduct, with policies, action, and documentation to match. 
• Employee performance: People want to work in a safe and healthy environment, not one that’s riddled with misconduct. Misconduct that goes unaddressed tells employees what the organization is willing to tolerate. Discrimination, harassment, and threats erode employee safety, well-being, and trust. Employers with ongoing misconduct issues face higher absenteeism, lower productivity, and increased attrition, impacting the organization’s ability to operate. 

Understanding what misconduct at work looks like in practice is the first step toward preventing it. Modern social media screening, also called cybervetting or a social media background check, gives employers visibility into patterns of harmful behavior that could impact their brand if left unchecked. It pairs nicely with traditional background checks, catching online misconduct that legacy checks can’t.

4 Examples of Workplace Misconduct in September 2026

Each of the cases below shows a different angle on social media misconduct. They include resurfaced posts, a brand-damaging ad campaign, hateful behavior in public, and disturbing online activity in a public place. Together they map the full spectrum of online behavior risk talent and executive-search leaders now have to account for.

#1. Former Children’s Television Figure Fired as Labor Adviser Over Resurfaced Racist Posts

An Australian Labor senator dismissed a former Play School presenter from an adviser role after racist and misogynistic social media posts resurfaced. Several posts contained racial slurs while others showed him sexually harassing women online. Many felt that the adviser’s behavior cut more deeply because he was a beloved figure in children's television, which only sharpened the contrast and the coverage.

Upon learning of the posts, the senator terminated the adviser, saying that public servants have a responsibility to “do better.” Australia’s Prime Minister publicly supported the senator’s swift action, saying it was the right decision. 

Why this matters for employers: Past behavior can pose current risks. That’s why many employers use pre-hire social media screening and cybervetting to surface patterns of risky behavior before making high-profile hires. It’s also why many HR teams rely on ongoing rescreening to spot employee misconduct risks before a crisis escalates. 

#2. Good Good Golf CEO and President Step Down Amid Controversial-Ad Fallout

Both the CEO and president of golf media company Good Good Golf stepped down after an ad with Callaway seemed to mock domestic violence. The ad featured Good Good Golf’s male co-founder shoving a woman to the ground and yelling at her after she reached for a new club in his bag. The scenario closely resembled real acts of domestic violence and trivialized violence against women. 

Immediately after the ad aired, the social media backlash began. Then Callaway, PGA Tour, and other partners cut ties, and major retailers removed their merchandise from stores. The fallout escalated from online criticism to lost commercial relationships to leadership departures in a matter of days. 

Why this matters for employers: Poor judgment is expensive. Bad decisions like approving an ad campaign that seems to promote violence have major consequences: fans lose interest, partners cut ties, and customers decide to shop elsewhere. When hiring for senior leaders, public-facing roles, or positions with significant public impact, understanding how someone behaves, what they value, and how they make decisions matters. That’s exactly what modern executive vetting screens for, protecting the brand they'll represent.

#3. Palm Beach County Fires Employee Over Alleged Nazi Salute and 'Heil Hitler' Remark

Palm Beach County, Florida terminated a building-department employee for violent, antisemetic behavior at work. The employee was driving a county-owned work vehicle when a car with Hebrew letters on it cut him off. At the next stop, the other driver rolled his window down to apologize. But the employee began screaming profanities, saying "Heil Hitler," and gestured the Nazi salute out his window. The interaction was filmed and shared online. 

Local news picked up the recording, which is how his employer learned of the interaction. An internal investigation followed and the employee was placed on leave before being terminated. 

Why this matters for employers: How people behave in public is a reflection on their employer, whether the behavior takes place in person or appears online. Often, behavior in person ultimately shows up online, and likewise behavior online shows up in person. This is where social media background checks can help protect employers from harmful misconduct, by surfacing signs of high-risk behaviors before an incident escalates. Screening at the time of hire ensures people with existing harmful patterns of behavior don’t enter your workplace, and rescreening ensures you can spot emerging patterns before a situation like this escalates.

#4. Wheel of Fortune Announcer Fired by Sony Over Online Activity

A longtime Wheel of Fortune announcer was fired by Sony after reports he was participating in an online chat group sharing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) while on a commercial flight. On an American Airlines flight, a fellow passenger saw lewd images, texts, and conversations about minors. The passenger reported the “disturbing” activity to a flight attendant, who coordinated with authorities to meet the plane upon arrival. The announcer was questioned at the airport and then released. 

TMZ reported images of the announcer’s participation. After learning of the incident, Sony launched an internal investigation. Sony released a statement, “we have recently been made aware of allegations concerning [the announcer]. He has been suspended from Wheel of Fortune and we are recasting while we conduct a thorough investigation.” Shortly after the investigation concluded, the announcer was terminated effective immediately. 

Why this matters for employers: What happens online doesn’t stay online. The child sexual abuse activity and materials are harmful alone. Doing so in a public place also exposed fellow passengers and pulled his employer into a public scandal. Sony had to investigate and terminate an announcer who had been part of the production since 2010, quickly recast his replacement, and navigate the public scandal swiftly. While we may not yet know how long the announcer had been participating in CSAM, social media rescreening may have been able to surface signs earlier.

Fama Findings: Executives Gone Rouge

Fama recently screened a C-level executive in Financial Services, uncovering thousands of problematic posts spanning several years. The executive shared hundreds of posts harassing people online, calling them “wackos,” “jihadists,” “cowards,” “child-idiots,” “delusional,” “cult follower,” and more. 

Why this matters for employers: People in leadership positions should embody the values of the company and set the example for the team they lead. Publicly, they are closely watched as a key representative of the brand. With thousands of social media posts name-calling, harassing, and showing signs of extreme behaviors and language, the person would not be setting a good example for their team or represent the organization well. 

The Role of Social Media Screening in Preventing Misconduct

Social media screening closes a visibility gap that traditional background checks leave wide open. A conventional check confirms identity, criminal records, and employment history. But it says nothing about how a person behaves in public, which is exactly where this month's crises originated.

Here's what modern social media screening actually does:

• Surfaces workplace-relevant risk: It reviews public text, images, and video to identify harassment, threats, violence, and discrimination, the behaviors most likely to become a legal or reputational problem.
• Improves quality of hire: By putting behavior at the forefront of background screening, employers get a fuller picture of how the person they're bringing in would represent the brand.
• Stays compliant: Done right, screening reviews only public content, with consent, and aligns with FCRA, EEOC, GDPR, PIPEDA, and FCA requirements, so the process is fair, consistent, and accurate.

This is where the guardrails matter. AI tools for background screening should support human decision-making, not replace it. Fama does not score individuals, rank candidates, or make employment decisions. It provides visibility that supports human judgment, so your team stays in control of every call.

Final Lessons on Proactive Social Media Background Screening

September 2026's reflect how employee behavior is public, permanent, and increasingly the employer's problem. Resurfaced posts, hateful behavior, a brand-killing ad, and litigation that outlives the firing all share the same root: misconduct that a proactive process could have surfaced sooner. Whether the risk is reputational, legal, or operational, the pattern is consistent, and so is the answer.

Proactive, compliant social media screening protects your brand image and quality of hire, surfacing early warning signs of misconduct before it escalates. It gives your team the visibility to make informed decisions while keeping every judgment where it belongs, with a human.

See how Fama helps employers identify misconduct risks through compliant social media screening. Request a demo today.