[ By Howard Haykin ] He was a real "social (media) butterfly," and an officer of a public company.  Like oil and water, the 2 don't mix.  As of last week, this multi-tasker lost his job -  according to the company, he had "improperly communicated company information through social media." Gene Morphis was Chief Financial Officer of fashion retailer Francesca's Holdings Corp., and like many others, he used social media to release his daily frustrations and tensions.  But, because of his corporate title and responsibilities, Mr. Morphis wasn't like most employees. Morphis and Francesca's Holdings both declined to comment to The WSJournal, which printed the story.  But who needs comments, when Mr. Morphis maintained a publicly viewable profile on Facebook, authored a blog called "Morph's View" and maintained a Twitter account under the handle "theoldcfo." Online, he discussed everything from Christmas to college basketball, and occasionally company doings. It was those posts that apparently landed him in trouble. A Sampling of His Postings. On 3/6/12, Morphis tweeted: "Dinner w/Board tonite. Used to be fun.  Now one must be on guard every second." The following day, he posted "Board meeting.  Good numbers=Happy Board." On 3/13, Morphis posted on Facebook about a company earnings call: "Earnings released. Conference call completed.  How do you like me now Mr. Shorty?" On 12/5/11, he posted about another investor call.  "Cramming for earnings call like a final. I thought I had outgrown that..." On 1/27/12, Morphis posted about an investor road show: "Roadshow completed.  Sold $275 million of secondary shares. Earned my pay this week." (The retailer held an IPO during July 2011.) Internal Investigation. The company said it launched an internal investigation with the assistance of outside counsel after discovering the activity on Friday afternoon.  The company said Mr. Morphis was "terminated for cause."  Mr. Morphis had been Francesca's CFO since October 2010, earning a $567K in 2011 and $1.2 million in 2010.   He previously held CFO positions, at David's Bridal and the Rowe Companies, and was listed as being 63 years old in an SEC filing last month. As of last Monday afternoon, Mr. Morphis's Facebook page, Twitter account, and blog remained online. Company and Outside Reactions. "We are disappointed by this situation but we expect our executives to comply with all company policies," said Chairman Greg Brenneman, who's also the chairman of private-equity firm CCMP Capital.  Employment lawyer Eric Meyer with Dilworth Paxson said: "It's understood by employers that employees are going to use social media, but hopefully they won't run afoul of their company's rules and potentially harm the employer." Commonplace Policies. About 40% of employers have formal social-media policies, according to a survey of 470 companies released this year by the Society for Human Resource Management.  Of those companies with policies, a third have taken disciplinary action against an employee in the past year, the survey found.  Many companies with social media policies require employees to state that their views are their own, not their company's, or abide by nondisclosure rules regarding sensitive company information, said Mr. Meyer.  He recommended that firms provide guidance to employees—particularly more senior staff, who may not be aware of the latest social media tools—about setting appropriate privacy settings on sites like Facebook. Mr. Meyer said it's rare for senior executives to be fired for social-media snafus, but top brass should be particularly careful online.  "They are going to have access to more inside, confidential information so there is the risk that they can publish it," he said.

[C-I's Take: Morphis got what he deserved. He should have left all his writing to the firm's public relations and investor relations professionals.  His comments about work were entirely unprofessional and uncalled for.  And, while we're usually pretty tolerant and hate to see anyone lose his or her job, it was the right decision.  May this be a lesson to us all.]  [WSJournal, 5/14/12]