I love my younger co-workers and value their fresh take on things and energy, but there is a clear pattern of not understanding reputation risk and liability. Of course. Or at least, I can. It was sheer luck that she didnt get caught by some other means. Thats a horrendously burdensome thing to ask! My 2cents, LW if something was so exciting you couldnt keep it in, you were in the wrong field. I used to be a journalist, I have lots of friends who are journalists and I never tell them anything that I shouldnt, even the ones I really trust. She probably felt she had a duty to disclose it and she may well have. (And thats before you tack on that LW thought it wasnt SO bad because he told Journalist Jason, who can keep a secret, as opposed to Reporter Robert, whos a real sieve.). I, too, have made foolish mistakes that cost me a job. I work in retail, and the company has yearly mandatory training on How to handle confidential info. I used to work at a public Zoo that was owned by the state, and so we were all state government employees. If she tried to downplay the seriousness of the breach in the meeting (like saying it was a victimless crime) then they may have decided that they couldnt afford to give a second chance. As someone who practices public relations, calling this victimless gives me a lot of anxiety. On other occasions, you might accidentally receive a confidential email with information meant for one person (or a few people) you know. Please keep reflecting on this. Hi LW, I agree with Alison the best way to approach with is by taking full ownership of what happened. If I ever texted a journalist about nonpublic information Id be fired. 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. Maintaining confidentiality is a foundational occupational requirement in a lot of fields. Thats what I would do. Yeah, we dont want to go down the road if encouraging the OP to continue acting unethically that will ensure she stays unemployed. But you should try to understand how this happened (why that friend? 2. It shouldnt happen but Id understand if it did. its not condescending to point out that what LW did was incredibly foolish. I wish I lived in your country. You said it yourself that you were working on client confidential information, and sent it to your personal mailbox. 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. If theyd covered up for her/not removed her access to confidential info and she did it again, their jobs would be on the line too the next time. When I asked about the job move he said he had failed to make a required disclosure on a sale and so was fired, but how he took it to heart and had behaved since. Perhaps Archie neglected to mention it. The issue of whether HIPAA information can be emailed is complicated. Journalists are very charasmatic and will fish for info its their job. My point is that you learn how to share AND maintain confidentiality. Yes of course it feels bad that you were fired. Appropriately so, but still, wow. When an employer says something is confidential, take it seriously Theres truly no compelling reason to break confidentiality here. All journalists are human and many of us have spouses/friends who do things that are news, and this is a situation where good boundaries can protect everyone. Yes, I did filing in a small-town law office where almost every name was familiar and nothing I read or saw left the office. Ive worked in the banking industry for a couple decades and this would be a fireable offense on the first instance, no ifs, ands, or buts. 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 GSA's dad would lead to the dad. Even if the coworker had malicious intentions, they were following privacy laws and regulations. If I happened to expose that to my BIL who runs the comic book store and has a bunch of media and arts and entertainment contacts? But imagine you are the government and someone leaked information. THIS ^^^ Whether it is age or just immaturity, there is clearly a major blind spot about the big picture and the potential impact resulting from this behavior. Can you get fired for using work email for personal use? You said in your letter that you were so excited that you wanted to share it in celebration. Send the attachment in a follow-up email and, in the future, attach the document before you even begin writing your email. Im a publicist. What is the point of Thrower's Bandolier? The co-worker absolutely had a responsibility to bring this information forward. But at the end of the day, the reputational risk to my company, versus the relatively low-level risk of having to replace someone entry-level, was just too great to bear. Well, it has been released now, so technically we could. I always wondered if they remained friends after that fiasco. 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. By Candice Novak. Fired. Someone would then check into it to see if there was a valid reason for someone to be poking at it. This makes it seem like they owe LW something, to be loving and release her to her best life. She just needs to learn discretion. Journalists seek out and report information thats their job.. I wrote back and asked, Is there more context for why your coworker thought that? I thoughtlessly mentioned an embargoed announcement to a longtime friend in journalism before it was public. If it hasnt worked out yet, it isnt the end. Excellent points, especially LWs use of ratted out. Alison has said so many times that theres no tattling in the work world. Many Government Agencies have specific rules about reference checks. when we had a high school shooting, a student I knew (10 y old) and who got into it (gladly uninjured) got a visit from his own uncle who was a journalist that very evening, who came to visit the parents and then proceeded to try to get his nephew to talk about the details. Everyone in the workplace has an equal obligation and responsibility to ensure that rules are upheld because thats what keeps the company operating smoothly and in business and able to provide jobs to you all. they dont owe it to you to offer that opportunity, That reminds me of the guys who say, I know I cheated on you, but I want a second chance.. However, were only human. Its like pain (heck, it IS pain); its telling you something important. That said, is there any reason you need to answer these questions? that one would be unable to resist texting a friend. Share information about a Harry Potter book before it being officially released? You will bounce back! The damage from most leaks isnt visible until much later, but it can be massive. This was a Friday. I would feel terrible about it, definitely, and probably think about it for a while after, but ultimately, Id need to prioritize my family and act in a way that would protect my job/salary/health insurance so I could continue to provide for my them. The amount that LW trusted that friend is a small fraction of how much the government trusted LW. That doesnt mean youre a horrible person who should never work again! It would have been better if she had told you first that she was going to tell someone Its part of driving a media and product blitz where it basically shows up out of nowhere because everyone has been working on it quietly so it would all be ready for the big day. I feel your pain. Really? (For the record, I always told people I was interviewing as a source that there was no such thing as off the record with me its not a requirement of our field, theres no law saying we have to follow that request if asked, so if the subject didnt want me to print something, they shouldnt tell me. Dont blame your colleague she may have been obligated to report this. In McMorris v. In that case its not so relevant that there was a misunderstanding. In some cases, there can even be criminal charges for knowingly releasing certain information. Of course I understand that I broke a rule, and that it was my mistake 100%, and it was no one elses fault. When I was a journalist I did not appreciate people giving me tips I couldnt use! This is essential to sanction the employee and also send out a clear . Its was exciting and you couldnt wait?! So Id do what Alison says here, and save your OMG I cant keep this in confessions for your pets. You might have to take a step back in your career to come back from it but you can you bounce back. 2) Told someone you broke a rule. I got that impression as well and have had younger coworkers who sent random, very personal info to me in texts. I doubt she had it out for you and rather was worried you confided a big breech to her which could adversely affect the company. 27 April 2021. Im not going to spell out what it was, but it was completely unethical and immoral, and shes lucky her license wasnt permanently revoked for it. Had OP not made the initial mistake and then compounded it by telling the coworker, shed still be employed. I think thats misunderstanding the severity of why what OP did was not ok. Theres any number of non-confidential matters that are embargoed prior to their public announcement. Granted, it was to your older co-worker rather than your boss, but that still shows you felt uncomfortable with your actions. Its no more blind-siding because the coworker reported the issue, than it would be if, say, IT had reported it after monitoring OPs traffic. Yeah, one of my former coworkers, who was allegedly fired from our company for bringing a gun to work, found another job a couple months later in our same industry. I was dismissed for a breach of confidentiality. I worked for a federal government contractor and we were awaiting news of whether we were getting a contract renewal. As easily as one of them knowing OP uses Slack to contact reporters and assuming I told a journalist friend or I told Rain (who they know is a journalist, possibly on that channel), anything but I texted a (journalist) friend meant OP went the usual Slack route. I wanted to add to the part about putting your friend in a bad position: shes a journalist its a competitive industry and being first with the story matters a lot. In the worst cases though, businesses can lose clients and employees can lose jobs. It can feel like the end of the world but I promise you it isnt. 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. The 2nd chance is just too much risk as far as theyre concerned. Life is full of these weird potholes we find ourselves in at times. Am I missing something? This is NOT a myob type situation at all. 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 a bad enough screw-up that I would be contemplating a career change, or at least a pivot to an area of communications where things like confidential information and media embargoes arent ever a factor. And that even one second counts as a HIPAA violation. In some cases, those policies . Yeah, this is a big part of it. OP, there is another thing to keep in mind. whatever you think is appropriate] to make sure it doesnt happen again.. She would have learned a valuable lesson and still kept her job. It was spur of the moment and, as soon as I realized what Id done I circled back to her to clarify that that information was confidential. Our newspapers report quite frequently on gossip of whats happening behind the scenes. Protect your people from socially engineered phishing attacks, Defend against attacks originating from compromised supply chain accounts, Detect fraudulent invoices and payment requests, Prevent people falling victim to targeted impersonation attacks, Defend against the delivery of ransomware and malware by email, Stop phishing attacks that lead to credential theft, Prevent email data loss caused by human error, Block exfiltration of personal and company data, Preserve ethical walls to prevent disclosure of information and avoid conflicts of interest, Apply the appropriate level of encryption to sensitive emails and attachments, Detect and prevent advanced email threats that slip through Microsoft 365, Provide people with easy, actionable advice in real-time at the point of risk, How to use a hacker's toolkit against them. I came here to say this. Your first step should be to contact your old HR department and ask about their policies for reference checks. 100%? If the answer is Yes then say that. People do stupid or extreme things all the time; their lives dont end, but they *can* be turning points for a downward spiral. Aug. 4, 2008, at 11:14 a.m. 7 Ways Your E-mail Can Get You Fired. He shared it with one person, telling them it was a joke. Policy change that is a big deal to staff that works on it, but very in the weeds for the general public (regulation is going to be changed in a way that is technically important but at most a medium-sized deal), Fairly real examples that would be much bigger deals: My adviser listened to what was going on and was like we have to tell. Maybe you get a 2nd chance IF you were contrite enough and blamed your excitement at the new teapot program. The one time I filled a confidentiality-bound role (as a temp) the information I was given was specifically NOT to tell the person you were obligated to report. I can imagine all kinds of things that wouldnt be that exciting to the world but that I would still want to tell a friend. Even if this person had not turned her in, there was this bomb just sitting there waiting to go off. how do I tell employers I was fired for a video I put on YouTube? Thats why they told you no. Thats the real clincher here for me) and on a personal level with management your position is one of trust and you violated the basis of your work. how else could you have met that need?) Or, she just needs to buy a journal and write the good news, and her feelings about same, down and go on with her job. Its a bigger deal because that friend is a journalist. Thanks for answering! Its also totally understandable that youre disappointed about losing your job, but they might have just considered that kind of confidentiality breach too much of a risk going forward. Thats also real life. Its so very context and field dependent. I mean, yeah, absolutely! a friend sent en email containing critical information and documents about a particular person to a person who wasn't that person. That makes a certain subset of people *extremely* excited. a coworker at my company was discussing a future potential release at a bar loud enough that someone heard it, and then posted it on a public forum. Right. Id like to know what LW said at the two meetings they gave her before firing her. If it was more time than 6 months, thats a resume gap that a recruiter will ask about, and if the OP lies about the gap, an experienced recruiter will hear it in her voice. In this situation, I reported myself is simply false, given OPs expectation that her mentor wouldnt pass along what she knew to anyone else. I think this really depends. In my job I often get embargoed advance copies of speeches that politicians are going to give they send them out to press to help us start working on getting most of a story written and cleared so we can just drop in a few quotes and crowd reactions and publish the story within 5-10 minutes of the speech ending. This is especially true if the employee in question signed a confidentiality agreement prior to starting the job. But, bald facts, they told you not to do the thing you turned around and did. But we have embargoes for a reason. I remind people about once a year that not only can I not look up their medical info on my own, I cant look it up even if they ask me to, and I get in even more trouble if I look up my own medical info. I constantly have journalist friends asking for confidential tips, and there is no way I would ever give up any information. People find new jobs after being fired all the time. Sometimes were lucky and there arent any repercussions. This was supposed to be a stand-alone comment. When an employer says something is confidential, take it seriously If a breach is proved, the employee may be liable for hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages Howard Levitt Published Aug 01, 2019 Last updated Oct 28, 2019 4 minute read Join the conversation But sending e-mails about a seemingly innocuous hobby cost one . Also, am I even allowed to bring up the fact that someone ratted me out? And it is so hard! Got my first job. I was sent home, and then fired over the phone a few hours later. Have you learned from your mistake? A first offense is still a breach in trust. Im still pretty upset that I had no second chance, but I suppose I just lost their trust.. All rights reserved. And you might know that you trust that friend 100% to keep it confidential but your employer would prefer to make that call themselves, and thought theyd done so when they told you the information couldnt be shared. 3. A lot of times, the actual employee might not be important, but they might know something like when a key senior person works, or gossip about so-and-so, that is then used to either help with hacking, help with fraud, do additional social engineering where they know just enough about a topic to lead the conversation, or in some cases to put pressure on a higher-level person to try to get them to give further information or make certain decisions. 4a) Coworker did not owe (and usually would be discouraged from giving) notification to the OP. But given the kind of convo LW describes.while the LW really should not have been surprised they got reported and then fired, and does seem to be downplaying the severity, I wonder if something about the convo led them to believe it was somehow less serious than the mentor clearly understood it to be, and mentor didnt seem to do anything to help the LW understand how big a deal this is, which is kind of a bummer.