A man claims he lost his job at the company where he worked for almost five years for 'liking' a photo of a fleece on Facebook.
Troy Garrod, of Tesmonde Close, Bowthorpe, worked in stock management for Bertram Books on Broadland Business Park and said he enjoyed his work.
But he claimed after he saw a colleague had uploaded a photo of a jumper on Facebook and he clicked the 'like' button, he received a text telling him he had lost his job.
The 27-year-old said he did not even know the identity of the owner of the wolf-patterned fleece and was just joining in with more than 70 others who 'liked' the photo – but claims he was told that his actions amounted to 'bullying'.
He told this paper: 'I got the text last Friday. I guess at the start I was really hurt and angry about getting accused of social network bullying.
'When it happened I drove down to the company and demanded to speak to them.
'It's not in my nature to bully people – I'm nice as pie.
'I spoke to the company but it was not moving on the situation.
'It had a perception of what it meant and was not budging.'
The photo was taken by a colleague in one of the firm's warehouses along with the caption: 'OMG I'm crying [with laughter].... I'm sure there's a wolf fleece appreciation page pahahaha'.
Mr Garrod said he was unable to pursue an unfair dismissal claim as he had switched to work for a recruitment agency two months ago, which reduced his rights.
'I was there so long and put so much effort into that company,' he said. 'If it was because of my performance, or lateness, or something like that, it may be easier to accept.
'People in the company will probably hear rumours of what happened so I just wanted to put my side of what happened out there.'
He claims that others who liked the photo still worked at Bertram.
Mr Garrod, who started work at the company in 2011, said he wanted to warn others to keep their work
and social life separate on social media. He is currently searching for a new job.
A spokesman for Bertram said: 'We do not comment on personal matters.'
A spokesman for HR GO recruitment agency said: 'We recently placed Mr Garrod in a temporary role with a client. He had previously been a full-time employee with the same company.
'The issue you describe is between the client and Mr Garrod.'
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Troy Garrod, from Bowthorpe, worked in stock management for Bertram Books on Broadland Business Park and said he enjoyed his work.
But after he saw that a colleague had uploaded a photo of a jumper on Facebook and he clicked the 'like' button, he said he received a text telling him he had lost his job.
The 27-year-old said he did not know the identity of the owner of the wolf fleece, and was just joining in with more than 70 others who 'liked' the photo, but was told that his actions amounted to 'bullying'.
He told this paper: 'I got the text last Friday.
'I guess at the start I was really hurt and angry about getting accused of social network bullying.
'When it happened I drove down to the company and demanded to speak to a manager.
'It's not in my nature to bully people - I'm nice as pie.
'I spoke to a manager but he was not moving on the situation.
'He had a perception of what it meant and was not budging.'
The photo was taken by a female colleague in one of the firm's warehouses along with the caption: 'OMG I'm ****ing crying.... I'm sure there's a wolf fleece appreciation page pahahaha'.
Mr Garrod said he was unable to pursue an unfair dismissal claim as he had switched to become an agency worker at the firm two months ago, instead of directly employed, which reduced his rights.
'I was there so long and put so much effort into that company,' he said. 'If it was because of my performance, or lateness, or something like that, it may be easier to accept.
'People in the company will probably hear rumours of what happened so I just wanted to put my side of what happened out there.'
He added that others who liked the photo still worked at Bertrams.
Mr Garrod, who started work at the company in 2011, said he wanted to warn others to keep their work and social life separate on social media
He is currently searching for a new job
A spokesman for Bertrams said: 'We do not comment on personal matters.'
A spokesman for HR GO recruitment agency said: 'We recently placed Mr Garrod in a temporary role with a client.
'He had previously been a full-time employee with the same company.
'The issue you describe is between the client and Mr Garrod.'
It is thought that the photo was inspired by a Facebook group called the 'Wolf Fleece Appreciation Society'.
The page features images of people wearing wolf jumpers, photographed without their knowledge, and has more than 11,000 'likes'.
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