South African Man Fired For Calling Boss 'Masturbator'

A South African man has been fired for calling his boss a "serial masturbator" on social networking site Facebook.

The 23-year-old clothing factory clerk in the southern city of Durban lost his job after a co-worker reported his inappropriate status update to management, reports The Times.

The paper said the man had asked not to be named in fear of losing any future employment opportunities.

It's thought to be one of the first firings in the country over a Facebook status update.

Previous cases have included the suspension of a 25-year-old worker for venting about his employer's alleged laziness online, while another Facebook user suffered the same fate for plugging a competitor's product on her profile page.

Law expert Willem de Klerk tells the newspaper that malicious comments on Facebook are as illegal as verbal defamatory statements.

"There is a huge difference between having your say based on fact and using the platform to slag off your employer," says De Klerk.

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