Doesnt matter that its your friend or that you trust her, its still a huge liability. (The fact that your friend is a journalist makes it particularly egregious.) My worry, OP, is that you dont see this as sufficiently serious to warrant a firing but I promise you that in most communications positions, it really likely would be. So this. Instead, you gossiped about it and risked an announcement before things were ready. OP notes that she is a government employee. Or that might not make a difference on how its interpreted. I dont know whether you meant it this way, but the co-worker is not untrustworthy for reporting this. How to not get fired from work for what you post or send online: Make sure your Facebook and social media accounts are locked down. But what you were effectively asking your employer to do is trust a totally unknown (to them) journalist not to publish something that was apparently such exciting news that you, bound by confidentiality, simply couldnt keep quiet about it. Sorry if this sounds like nitpicking, Im only pushing because, as PollyQ said, if OP uses this as a reason and her former employer tells a prospective employer the reasons for her termination, it will appear that she was lying and make her look untrustworthy. It makes her someone with morals and a respect for her employer. Shell lose credibility in the hiring process, and even if she did slip through and get hired, its automatically grounds for a dismissal if the truth ever came to light (even in Canada, where it is harder to let people go from roles than in most of the US states). I have been fired for a dumb mistake. I think its very strange that so many commenters are trying to police the LWs feelings about the coworker. The actual problem is that OP shared confidential information. (Even if its not an area she covers, she likely knows the person who does, and journalists share tips/info all the time.). OP: Move to a sector and a position where you wont be called upon to handle confidential information, and admit that you are doing so because youve recognised your own limitations and are willing to actively avoid being a liability to your future employer. Yeah, but never let anyone else see it, and absolutely still use code names in case someone does see it. If OP had confessed to their manager, it would make sense for the manager to say, I have to report this to such-and-such, but the coworker was right not to warn OP. When theres something I really want to share with my wife, I mask it, pretty much what we do here talking about how the client invested in llama shearings, or called up asking about rumours of purple llamas, or asked us to sell all their teapots that kind of thing. I definitely learned my lesson, and it was a hard one, and one that I will regret for a very, very long time. 2.) As much as I love some of my coworkers, Im not taking one of the team. Sometimes it can be a blessing in disguise. It also wasnt illegal to share it, because it was about a program or something that has now publicly been announced, so this doesnt even fall under the criminal aspect brought up in the original comment. I recently saw a movie in pre-screening thats being pushed to be a blockbuster.
5 Ways Your Emails Could Breach GDPR - TowerWatch Tech In fact, think of it this way: you put your journalist friend in a situation where she was potentially sitting on a scoop but she actually kept mum to protect you. If it was something that was a big deal to LW but not huge news externally, yeah, its not a thing. . She already got that advice from Alison. This includes understanding what you did wrong and explaining how you might have approached this in future (hint: ask boss, transfer via encrypted USB if necessary and allowed. Im not saying the employer didnt do these things or even if they didnt that its anybodys fault other than LW that this happened, but its a good way to stop situations like this before they happen. Take ownership and accountability of it, because for better or worse, all of us could have made OPs mistake at some point in our careers. Gossage said he believed he was speaking in confidence to someone he trusted implicitly, but the story subsequently appeared in the Sunday Times, to the dismay and rage of the author of the Harry Potter books.. Absolutely this. Im very aware of that reality, so I confine my work email to work stuff only. Keep your chin up are you not getting any extra help? Ah, no, there definitely was a record if there was any form of written communication at all about the information. Its not the end of the world as long as you adjust your thinking going forward and really try to understand why confidentiality policies exist. Its not about breaking a rule, its about potentially causing some serious issues by leaking information. Youve got some great feedback from Alison and I hope it all works out for you. It was absolutely drilled into all of our heads during grad school and training that you can never, ever do this. Messages like this can simply be ignored and deleted. This was a person whose reviews had been glowing up until that moment and I am sure they are still upset that this came out of the blue.
Email Basics: Email Violations Can Jeopardize Your Job - GCFGlobal.org But the judge's response to the request for a. I minored in journalism and this attitude is why I never worked in the industry. There are lots of situations in which leaking information to a journalist would absolutely be the right thing to do, and we should absolutely encourage it in those cases. But I dont think it helps OP to feed a narrative that prevents OP from owning the situation going forward. The Solicitors Regulation Authority has also issued a written rebuke to Christopher Gossage, of Russells solicitors, who confided to his wifes best friend that Robert Galbraith, author of The Cuckoos Calling, was really one of the most famous and wealthy authors in the world. That oh honey is so unnecessary, and questioning LWs age is just rude. I would absolutely be fired for checking out things for curiosity, I only have access in the first place so I can see whether people are currently clocked in (if you change their access to something while they are actively using it, odd things happen, so I need to check to see if they clocked in that day before I begin). It should go without saying: a breach of confidentiality could and would wind up in a bar complaint in my jurisdiction. Lack of the maturity to keep exciting news to onesself. Oh, this is all interesting, and I appreciate all the responses. LW, please, please look hard at what happened and how you can promise yourself first of all that this was the last time. Of course, its your fault but it is only human to be annoyed with someone, especially someone who seemed to completely misrepresent what happened. But at the end of the day, Alison is right. Im in Chicago so I read about those firings with interest. Especially in banking! Those kinds of disclosures often rise to the level of immediate termination, which is what happened, here. Ideally. You would never want someone to find out from the news media that they no longer have a job, for example. Ill add one point: You dont know that she didnt leak it. I have news from my job that I cannot share with some coworkers. I was dismissed for a breach of confidentiality. She can still apply to jobs in her field, and even in the fields you noted, shell just have to be very clear in interviews that she understands why she was fired from this job and how shell work to ensure nothing like this ever happens again. You are allowed to feel your feels about things, so long as you understand the reality. I empathize I LOVE being a person who is in the know and I can be impulsive. Many, many of us in similar positions have made similar mistakes. What probably really hurt the OPs case was that the friend is a journalist. Once info is out in the community, you have no control over where it goes and any and all ramifications. If we think about this, not only did she trust her journalist friend, she trusted her coworker not to tell anyone either. They also rely on constant prompting that can give even the most diligent employees click fatigue after a while. Letting stuff out early could mean that goes off with a whimper instead of a bang and might be a financial difference in driving extra purchases for that initial season, and the implication of The Things staying power if it doesnt do well enough during that time. She shared it via text not voice, but text, which could be seen by someone else. If *you* got that carried away, you cant guarantee that she wont, either. Right. True story: in my last job someone mistyped an email address by a single letter and instead of going to a related government org it went to a journalist. I get that youre trying to take responsibility here, but your Im still pretty upset that I had no second chance, I suppose suggests to me you still have a long way to go toward recognizing and acknowledging the seriousness of what happened. Then what? The hospital I was working for last year had the best of this kind of presentation that Ive ever seen. Theres a great blog called SorryWatch (.com) that analyzes & critiques apologies made by public figures. It can depend on what mechanisms are in place to protect the content of the email, who is sending the email, who it is being sent to, the content of the email, and whether the subject of the HIPAA information has provided their written authorization for unsecured PHI to be . The damage from most leaks isnt visible until much later, but it can be massive. Im a fed and we have annual mandatory training out the wazoo on these kinds of rules, as well as frequent reminder emails from the ethics folks and/or the IGs office. 1. Oh, so LW cant keep a secret from her reporter friend or her coworker, but were ragging on the coworker for not keeping LWs secret? I am very, very lucky. This is probably not a feasible strategy, unless the OP was at the job for only a few months. If someone had been privy to the list of cities prior to the announcement, and leaked it, they would 100% have been fired.
Accidentally received confidential email | Email DLP Having a natural, human reaction doesnt mean shes in the wrong field. Really? I understand the issue had to be reported, but why this way ? Is there a single-word adjective for "having exceptionally strong moral principles"? If the email involves sensitive information, this could be a serious problem for the people involved. If she hadnt told the superiors, she could have been on the hook as well if it came out that you told a journalist confidential information and then told her about it. you can include that in there too, not as a way to cast doubt on their decision but as a way to indicate this was a fluke, not a pattern of bad judgment. While it is possible the line could be actively tapped/monitored by someone else, even if it was an unsecured line it would be reasonable to assume the home phone number on file for GSAs dad would lead to the dad. President issuing an executive order on (issue the agency deals with) Even if this person had not turned her in, there was this bomb just sitting there waiting to go off. I wouldnt be obligated by anything other than displaced loyalty if I wanted to try to be squirrelly of course but I respect myself way too much and have my own standards to just keep quiet about things. Im sorry, what? Of course I understand that I broke a rule, and that it was my mistake 100%, and it was no one elses fault. Yeah the world just being what it is, if youre this bad at keeping secrets, youre gonna get burned by it pretty quick. There was no warning, no suspension, nothing. (Drunk driving is an extreme example of this. Every employer Ive worked for (finance) has done annual or semi-annual privacy/information security trainings, and while theyre tiresome for some of us, theyre certainly helpful in continually reinforcing hey, this is a very very very very very big mcf**king deal. Its the only way they can maintain control of the information. should I tell my coworker about our colleagues criminal record, I deeply regret joining my companys leadership program, and more, my company is cutting my overworked teams pay as punishment for mistakes. FOIA and open records requests are really big deals. Is it possible to rotate a window 90 degrees if it has the same length and width? The consequences are serious and could have legal implications if youre representing a government or publicly traded company. Unauthorized Emails: The Risks of Sending Data to Your Personal Email Accounts. Nothing got out about this before it was supposed to. You are disappointed you didnt get a second chance. I question that there are no details about your Monday meeting with HR here. Maintaining confidentiality is a foundational occupational requirement in a lot of fields. That really set the tone for the reference she gave. Some offenses are serious enough that a single incident is enough to fire someone. Yes and thats the consequence they now have to live with. You might add to Alisons script, I knew immediately that I needed to report my indiscretion, and I did so right away. Every bit of what Ive said is probably hearsay. Confidential information is meant to be confidential and not shared with anyone. Companies (and governments) want to carefully manage the messaging and strategy around information that is released in order to bring the biggest buzz and the best information to the public. This is essential to sanction the employee and also send out a clear . Unless his bedroom was a SCIF and the phone secured, thats really bad. But your friends profession means you often cant share these types of things with her because of other peoples perceptions about it they dont know your friend, and while she may take off the record seriously, some journalists dont and your coworkers have no way of knowing which type of journalist she is. I was working on some client confidential information on my client issued laptop and I emailed this info to my personal mailbox as I wanted to continue doing work on my personal laptop; I couldn't take my work laptop away whilst on extended leave overseas. This is important both in terms of owning your mistake and not blaming the person who reported it. One of my coworkers saw another coworker sexually harassing a woman. I sent confidential documents to someone by accident via email I need the file completely removed - Gmail Community Gmail Help Sign in Help Center Community New to integrated Gmail Gmail Stay on. In fact, if you are being sent overseas, you have to take a special counterintelligence training before you go that includes tips like dont wear items with your agencys name written on them while you travel and never park next to a panel van.. It may be a requirement of employment regarding compliance. And especially in the field youre in, leaks are a big deal, and ESPECIALLY leaks to a member of the press. OP, its worth examining whether trying to assuage your guilt by sharing this with your mentor, rather than with some outside person who doesnt touch on your industry, was a version of getting post-mortem permission. I guess you just say I inadvertently let an important piece of information get out and I will take extraordinary safeguards to never let that happen again. I might consider you as a candidate who truly gets it in a way that someone who hasnt been tried by fire might not. What if there was another leak and someone found out that OP had told Coworker that she had leaked info previously, but didnt report it as she was supposed. Well, you certainly can do that, but its one hell of a risk, and a continuation of poor ethics. But when youve broken someones trust, they dont owe it to you to offer that opportunity and shouldnt offer it unless they sincerely believe that you could meaningfully repair the breach quickly and comprehensively. We've added a "Necessary cookies only" option to the cookie consent popup. +1 Theres a lot of admittedly not very exciting info the federal government is sitting on at any time. Rules are there because its so easy to do that thing that feels harmless, and sometimes nobody gets hurt.. Does that matter? Right. The LW blabbed, why would her friend have more self-control? One day its pre-public FOUO information; what next? The letter makes it look like you only told one person out of turn, but actually you told two people. I do a lot of trade shows and we always remind booth staff of what to say (talk points) and what not to say to trade journalists. Its hard though, and its a skill thats learnt over time. Phrase it as a serious learning point, because you sure as hell aren't going to do it again after getting fired. And then they did it again. In addition to 100% needing to own it when asked about it, I think OP may also benefit from focusing the job search on jobs that dont involve handling sensitive or high profile information. The government takes this stuff very very seriously. No, not if its classified or embargoed. Good luck with your job search! While I was working there, I started dating an entertainment journalist who then covered some Marvel projects, and there were definitely things that happened at work which I did not share with him because of my NDA. By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. Since its a government agency, I have to wonder if there are regulations in place about this kind of leak as well, most places that deal with confidentiality clauses arent messing around with them. We all developed what we called the [cityname] twitch of looking over our shoulders before we talked about work stuff in a public place. No one was allowed to approach her and her desk for the week and every night she locked up the removable ribbon from her typewriter because it could be unspooled and read. 2. I supervise a manager who falsified an employee write-up but I dont think she should be fired. We let him go for incredibly poor judgmentlike putting me as a reference, for example.. This seems like a no-brainer to just not do, and if you did, certainly not to tell someone at work that you did this. While that obviously wasnt the result Id have wanted, I learned an important lesson about confidentiality, and its not a mistake Ill ever repeat.. But folks with strong confidentiality duties often dont disclose the confidential parts of the information to their trusted confidants or partners. It could be that she did (and I think no employer should ever fire anyone without hearing their version of the story) but the employer still thought its bad enough that they need to fire OP. If that puts it in perspective. We were interviewing someone who had broken the #1 cardinal ethical rule in our industry (a branch of health care). But reasonable minds can certainly differ. Calling this victimless shows OP still doesnt have insight into their behavior. I see it a lot and I wonder sometimes if its not sending the wrong message that its okay to break confidentiality because Friendship/Family Conquers All or something. I encourage you to get involved with PRSA. Some seem to imply there is no reason ever to leak information, which isnt true. An employee who doesn't know about a policy important enough to fire someone over is just a ticking time bomb to an employer. Its was exciting and you couldnt wait?! She screwed up, and they fired her because thats what she deserved. As a communicator, youre likely to be privy to confidential information on a regular basis during the course of your career, and if that information leaks for any reason, it could have serious repercussions for the organization especially if its a government body. My code is GPL licensed, can I issue a license to have my code be distributed in a specific MIT licensed project?
Can You Get Fired for Opening a Phishing Email [Deep Research] The heads on spikes of the modern workplace. Accept responsibility for what you did. If you say, My coworker ratted me out, an interviewer hears, My coworker reported my misconduct. Youre the one who comes off looking poorly there, not the coworker. "Compose the email, and only then go back and enter the address (es)," he says. If you had the same role in a public company, you could have have been fired because of regulations preventing insider trading. Best wishes to OP in her work on this. Yes, when I worked at a financial firm I believe that exact question was on a privacy training test: If I run across the name of a celebrity in the client management system while performing my duties, its okay to tell friends and family about it, True or False?. They can only control what their employees do, and thats why they have those rules, and not much leeway for people who dont adhere to them. how do I tell employers I was fired for a video I put on YouTube? A misdirected email describes an instance where an email is sent to the wrong person or the wrong attachment has been added to an email that has the correct recipients in it. And Im not saying it was fair or unfair or whether your previous employer made the right call. While I dont think the LW should be endlessly flagellating herself, this was her fault, not the co-worker. Things worked out this time, so I was right! Further, the laws/regluations dont actually make allowances for how many people are told the confidential information, or how much you, the employee, trusts the person they told. I had to learn the hard way, Im afraid, but I did learn. Sometimes its because someone could obtain an unfair benefit from early access to what will later become public information (e.g., think analogous to insider trading). However, I will agree that, per OPs statement, the information appears to be unsolicited and doesnt seem like it would have been considered a records request (who knows, we dont have a lot of information and what we have has been proven to be distorted).
was my company right to fire my coworker for accidentally sending me a OP, you truly buried the lede: you leaked to a journalist. how to explain you were fired, when interviewing. LW, people in the comments are also ragging on you for being upset with your coworker but frankly, I would be mad too!