There's a tsunami building, fed by a combustible mix of incredibly stupid (and apparently mean-spirited) workers, public blogs, and nervous companies.

I'm referring to the growing numbers of folks fired or reprimanded in the workplace for either exposing company plans or posting negative comments about co-workers in public blogs.

The latest example comes from the Southern California branch of AAA, which last week fired 27 workers over their postings on the MySpace social-networking Web site, according to an Associated Press report. The postings came to light after one of the targets--a co-worker of the bloggers--complained. The posts were a mixture of insulting observations, and, according to an auto club spokeswoman, discussion about how the bloggers allegedly planned to slow down roadside assistance at work.

(Yikes. Can't you just picture a road sign urging: "Caution, stupid employees up ahead!"?)As noted by my colleague Rick Whiting, this issue is a prime example of technology outpacing human-resources programs. Simply put, corporate HR and legal departments have been caught napping on this one. Even among companies that actively encourage employees to blog, most of them, as recently as six months ago, lacked blogging guidelines for their employees.

There are several issues here, first and foremost being freedom of speech. But nowadays free speech is not so free, hemmed in as it is on one side by slander and libel laws, and by harassment policies on the other. (Just to be clear - I do not believe that freedom of speech is either a blanket right, or a viable defense for the nasty bloggers. But I do expect supporters of the fired bloggers will point first to that right as protective of their actions.)

Other issues that will surely come up in the debate over whether companies have the right to reprimand or fire employees who talk about the business or co-workers outside of work in private or public blogs: