Yoga Teacher at Facebook Fired For Smartphone Ban

Ban on cell phones during class gets yoga teacher fired from Facebook gig.

The first pose for students of yoga instructor Alice Van Ness: putting their cell phones in the off position.

But after a Facebook employee snuck in some phone time in between downward dog poses and Van Ness expressed her displeasure, the yoga teacher is now in the fired position.

Van Ness received a termination notice from Plus One Health Management, which provided yoga classes on the Facebook campus, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. She was fired because "saying 'no' to Facebook employees is a no-no," the newspaper reported.

Van Ness begins every class -- at Facebook or anywhere else -- by asking students to turn off technology and focus on the yoga for the duration of the class. The offending student was asked to turn off her phone but was tuned into her device during class. Van Ness "shot her a look," the newspaper reported, but the student later complained.

The firing cost Van Ness a yoga teaching position at Cisco, the newspaper reported. She had also asked a Cisco employee not to take a photo during class.

Can tech employees be asked to tune out of technology during yoga classes -- and if so, can they be expected to listen? The jury's still out. But so is Van Ness.

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