Perhaps Archie neglected to mention it. Yes, or that appalling line by E M Forster, written just before the Second World War: if I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend I hope I should have the guts to betray my country. I can't remember the details, but there was a point about the fact the word "confidential" added in every e-mail by such a notice wasn't actually helpful, since tools that looked for the word confidential were flagging everything up, including a large number of false positives. If I ever texted a journalist about nonpublic information Id be fired. Its the Im still pretty upset that I had no second chance, but I suppose I just lost their trust. that did it for me (especially after all the ways the OP dodged responsibility in the original letter). Your first step should be to contact your old HR department and ask about their policies for reference checks. Even though shes made the same mistake 2 times). People find new jobs after being fired all the time. Things Never to Send Over Work Email - Business Insider No one is trying to tell the OP that she needs to be friends with this former coworker. A majority of those who work from home would use their own personal digital devices such as laptop, tablet or mobile to perform their daily work tasks and it is also convenient for employees to. It still sucks, but its not really personal per se, and perhaps it will help a little bit to think of it that way. I totally get how it can be really exciting to hear about cool things, and the impulse to tell the people close to you. The details dont really matter. ); Im also thinking of someone I know whose work depends on his being able to drive who got a DUI last year, and someone who essentially had a full emotional breakdown in a workplace I was in when I was a lot younger, who ended up under her desk sobbing and throwing things). It happens. You are fortunate to get the opportunity to learn it early when it hasnt resulted in severe long term consequences. Weve all made mistakes. All this said, I think Alisons approach is the best one when youre applying for jobs. The thing is, its a big deal that you were given confidential information and then texted it to a friend. Perhaps something like the announcement of the new Amazon HQ? I got that impression as well and have had younger coworkers who sent random, very personal info to me in texts. In a couple of hours, the news agencies were calling the federal government, to verify the news. In some cases, those policies . But reasonable minds can certainly differ. "You can call or text and say, 'Call me, you were sent the wrong information.' " She recalls one time when a co-worker accidentally sent an email calling a client a "tough cookie" to the. Can you get fired for sending a meme? - triple j - ABC The only thing even slightly puzzling is why during the conversation with the mentor, mentor didnt say you do understand I am obligated to report this? Maybe mentor thought that might prompt LW to do something track-covering so it was better left going directly to the bosses without warning. All mom did was hand dad the phone. The person whos emailed may have inadvertently caused a data breach, so it could be important you get in touch and let them know. I dont mean to sound harsh but you really need to break out of this frame of mind. Judgement errors tend to repeat themselves. But how do I explain this to show I learnt from my mistake and get a new job ? I have been fired for a dumb mistake. Im pretty sure the information wasnt actually confidential in the legal sense. Please keep reflecting on this. So, thats to say that I *completely* get the idea that at some point, you get to a point where you just really really need to share. Likewise, LW needed to understand that you dont get a next time not to tell anyone confidential information just because you get it now that they meant it when they said the information was confidential. It was super not personal, it was just a situation were second chances were not given, period. A selfie was reportedly taken that accidentally also showed the dispatch screen. If when when LW talked to their boss, they conveyed the sense that theyre thinking Whats the big deal, its all fine, the coworker who ratted me out sucks, I did it once and Id do it again but next time I wouldnt self-report to my coworker the boss would probably be unwilling to give a second chance, whereas a oh shit I screwed up, heres what Im going to do to make sure this never happens again could have gotten one. I dont know the full text of the conversation and I dont want to, but she was probably in a position where she had to tell someone. January 31, 2022 . Best of luck in your next job! Also, the OP wont be able to ever claim the good work experience she gained from the role. LW, you are too focused on using some incorrect details to mitigate the main point: you were a trusted professional who broke one of the most basic policies in the world of communications. In other words, this whole line of discussion is moot. Thanks for sharing all of this. I worked for a federal government contractor and we were awaiting news of whether we were getting a contract renewal. Regardless of what word you use when you disclose what happened, understanding that difference, owning up to it, and showing how you've changed as a result is your best hope of gaining future employment. But, its important for an employer to know that you understand the need for reporting and would report things yourself if needed. My boss and I had a very serious conversation about it, and I think the only reason I was not fired was that I immediately and unequivocally took responsibility. You got a hard hit, and I am sorry for all the difficulty that causes. When I worked for the bank in the security investigation department, we had systems in place that monitored Famous Peoples accounts and would flag them if they were opened/touched. I mean, yeah, absolutely! If you had stayed, they would never have trusted you again. What happens when someone sees that message over her shoulder? Of course, its your fault but it is only human to be annoyed with someone, especially someone who seemed to completely misrepresent what happened. Thats the person were gonna call the blabbermouth in this situation? Even in the private sector, there is information that is classified, sensitive or commercially in confidence and not to be shared. If it hasnt worked out yet, it isnt the end. If you were fired for an embarrassing reason that would torpedo your chances in an interview, say that your position was eliminated. 2. The initial complaint filed against Google is currently under seal because the judge has asked the bank to redact the Gmail account from its filings. And then that coworker did tell someone, and she was fired. Another engineer girl here, at a place where people have been fired for leaks and it hits the news when it happens: theres a warning during New Hire Orientation, and between that and our reputation, youre expected to know it. Access rules are very, very strict, and there are reminders all the time. All rights reserved. I feel like this misses the overall lesson Allison is trying to impart here. Yeah. (Many of these claims have to be handled by specialists who have security clearance, but not all of them.). Count your blessings that you just got fired. Because I can almost guarantee that your reputation in that organization would never recover, even if you had remained employed. And in the future if you really cant hold something in (that is not full on illegal to discuss) and want to share it with your spouse or something, dear God dont ever do it in writing! Im also a supervisor. My point is that you learn how to share AND maintain confidentiality. There could be Official Reasons, but it could also be something as simple as the coworker, while being made somewhat uncomfortable by this confidence originally, got more and more uncomfortable the more she thought about it. If you are still defensive or dismissive about this, it will come through in an interview. Training in this area is important generally, but a communications/ PR person should not need to be reminded to keep sensitive information confidential thats a very basic aspect of the job. I would also lay odds that when LW says Coworker was understandably very uncomfortable with what I did, and we had a very nice conversation about our duties as communication officers, and trust, etc., that means that despite what LW thought about it being a nice confidential chat, her mentor figure was trying to imply to her that she was going to HAVE TO report the incident, because trust and responsibility. Like, its so obviously wrong that people dont even talk about it. (Obviously dont tell any potential employer that but its my personal opinion). For the other 2 questions, I would simply urge you to remove the phrase ratted out from your professional vocabulary. That brings us to your questions. Good points, and good advice for anyone whos apologizing for anything. If yes, that is relevant to the question. Many Government Agencies have specific rules about reference checks. Journalists seek out and report information thats their job. Yikes. Unfortunately, there are instances where employees have accidentally leaked confidential information. [duplicate]. More commonly it means that you either cant share anything, or you cant share parts that someone could connect to a particular client. Maybe the information was a big deal to the agency but not externally (say getting a big grant funded), but if it was something that was legitimately important news, her friend would have been at least a little torn between loyalty to her friend and loyalty to her job. I feel your pain. In a roundabout way, they somewhat did you a kindness by firing you. It was sheer luck that she didnt get caught by some other means. Trying to understand how to get this basic Fourier Series, Linear regulator thermal information missing in datasheet. Your feelings are wrong, in this context means,Your feelings arent *morally* wrong.. 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 . 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. Yeah, I think CA meant, the message was only sent to the friend/journalist, but you dont know where she opened it: if shes in an open newsroom or something, someone could have seen it on her screen over her shoulder. Oh, I wish Id seen this before replying. Employer found out and had grounds to fire you. Unfortunately accepting responsibility doesnt always work in some workplaces, it just digs your hole. 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. There is no other guarantee, and yet people count on it. whatever you think is appropriate] to make sure it doesnt happen again.. It doesnt matter that the information is going public next week. Or they might have a zero-tolerance policy for leaks as a deterrent. I was trying to disagree with the idea that it puts journalists in a terrible position to receive off-the-record info, not that it would ameliorate the employers concern. Yes, if you're sending a mass email, BCC makes sure no-one else sees each other's emails and therefore reduces the risk of a breach. That would likely lead to your manager also getting fired (for not firing you in the first place) and also make your entire department/agency look bad to the public (whod be wondering who else still working there has done something similar without getting fired). 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. Email Mistakes at Work: How to Survive Them - CBS News I constantly have journalist friends asking for confidential tips, and there is no way I would ever give up any information. I work for a state government agency and FOIA is a really big deal. If I were in the coworkers position, I would need to do the same thing. I screwed up in grad school and had to go in front of an IRB board for being sent information that I hadnt gotten full clearance for. Replying to the sender is a good thing to do for a couple of reasons. 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. She already acknowledged that its 100% her fault. Those who work in circumstances that require them learn how to filter through multiple layers of risk when they get to a point where they come up against that need to share. I do not believe in using it for personal gain, even the minor personal gain of sharing juicy secrets with someone. But I cant talk about the specifics of that scene. Say I have a friend working on a presidential campaign, and she tells me theres a bunch of debate about the candidates strategy, I have to decide whether to mention that to my colleague who covers the candidate. Coworker would let the other authorities figure that out. A terse to non-existent IT policy or one that's full of unexplained jargon can work against a company. Is it illegal to read an e-mail that was accidentally sent to you? Ive had the occasional day when Ive really wanted to tell someone I met X today! That doesnt mean youre a horrible person who should never work again! Including their reputation being damaged. quite a lot of people are going to feel as though youre making them an accomplice in your bad behavior.
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