Yoga teacher fired over cell phone ban at Facebook WORKPLACE

Alice Van Ness says: "I'm just not really OK with anarchy." Alice Van Ness says: "I'm just not really OK with anarchy." Photo: Courtesy Robert Van Ness Photo: Courtesy Robert Van Ness Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Yoga teacher fired over cell phone ban at Facebook 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

For years, yoga instructor Alice Van Ness has started her classes with a simple request - that students turn their cell phones off.

She brought that policy with her to Facebook, where she began teaching a weekly class at the company's Menlo Park campus in March. But it proved to be a hard policy to follow for at least one employee, who began tapping away on her phone in the middle of class. And after Van Ness shot her a disapproving look, the instructor found herself out of a job.

The 35-year-old San Carlos resident was fired last month after managers at the fitness contractor she worked for explained that saying "no" to Facebook employees is a no-no.

"We are in the business of providing great customer service," said her termination notice from Plus One Health Management. "Unless a client requires us to specifically say no to something, we prefer to say yes whenever possible."

But when it came to the Facebook employee using her cell phone - at the front of the room, in the middle of class - Van Ness refused to bend over backward.

"Hello - this is only Facebook," said Van Ness, whose firing cost her a teaching gig at Cisco too. "We're not talking about the U.S. government here. We're not talking about Russia is about to bomb us. We're talking about Facebook. Something can't wait half an hour?"

Facebook declined to comment. Representatives for Plus One Health Management did not respond to requests for comment. In its termination notice, the company suggested the Facebook incident was part of a pattern of strict behavior on Van Ness' part; she had previously asked a Cisco employee not to take photographs of the class while it was in session.

Tension over tech

The incident highlights a growing tension in health studios, where students come to leave the world behind but often find themselves incapable of not checking their text messages, e-mails and - of course - Facebook. As smart-phone usage has grown, many studios have posted prominent notices asking students to leave them outside the studio.

But at a yoga class on a corporate campus, setting aside job responsibilities entirely, even for a few minutes during the work day, can be a stretch.

"Sometimes if you're in the tech industry, or have a serious attachment to your phone, you can't let Facebook go for an hour," said Michelle Michael, who owns Balance Yoga Studio in Woodinville, Wash., near Microsoft and other tech companies.

When Michael opened her studio last year, she posted prominent notices there and on her website banning cell phones from classes.

"It's anti-yoga, if you ask me," Michael said. "We realize the news feed's going to keep going. But it's nothing you can't go back and look at. Class is only an hour."

At the same time, Michael said, instructors shouldn't embarrass their students, even if they're out of line.

'My face said it all'

Van Ness said her class at Facebook was just beginning when she noticed a student in the front row using a cell phone. She asked the entire class to shut the devices off. Halfway into their routine, just as they began the pose known as ardha chandrasna, the same student picked up her phone again.

Van Ness said nothing, but shot the student a look.

"I'm sure my face said it all," she later said in a blog post. "Really? Your e-mail is more important than understanding your body? It's more important than taking time for you? It's more important than everyone else here?"

The student left class for a few minutes to complete her phone business. She later complained to the fitness center's managers, and two weeks later, Van Ness' boss called her into the office and fired her.

Van Ness protested at first, but later decided she would be happier elsewhere. Working at tech companies, she routinely found herself dealing with students who came in late, left early, and fidgeted during short meditations.

"The culture of these places is to let them do whatever they want," she said. "And I'm just not really OK with anarchy."

She crumpled up her termination notice and discarded it. In an apparent show of support, her roommate's cat, Veronica, tore it up.

Seeking flexibility

Van Ness continues to teach at studios in Los Altos, Palo Alto and Milpitas. She likes using a smart phone as much as the next person, she said. The compulsion to check for new messages is understandable. But - particularly in a yoga class - students ought to be flexible.

"I understand the world still happens and there might be emergencies," Van Ness said. "But it's like, can we have some sort of boundary, a line of what we're not going to accept bringing into this class?"