Digital Forensics Dispatch

Healthcare Worker Cleared of Wrongdoing in Racist Social Media Hoax

July 16, 2020

Recently a nurse at the Carolina Gardens Senior Living Home in Columbia South Carolina was accused of sending vulgar and hurtful Facebook messages that were then widely shared on social media sites such as Facebook. The screenshots of the hateful messages supposedly sent by the nurse immediately attracted attention and users inundated the care home with calls for the woman to be fired. The nurse denied sending the messages and believed her account may have been compromised while she was on vacation. She went on to file a police report regarding the incident.

To its credit, the company which runs the senior living home, Priority Life Care, conducted a thorough investigation. A digital forensic firm was hired to assist. The investigators performed an analysis of the nurse’s Facebook account and Facebook Messenger data. During this review, the investigators reached out to the user who initially shared the posts but could not make contact. It was further noted the account used to share the screenshots was not a verified Facebook account. Years of the nurse’s company emails were also reviewed for any behavior consistent with the alleged messages. In the end, investigators were quoted as saying the nurse “was not the author of the racist statements, and those statements were not generated from (the nurse’s) Facebook account”.

With her name cleared, she will be able to return to work after being suspended during the investigation. The criminal investigation into determining the true origin of the post is ongoing, Facebook is reportedly assisting. 

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