The message there is dont violate confidentiality policies. Thats when it gets tricky. Why is it so hard for people to just keep their (figurative) mouth shut? Maybe OPs workplace does the same? A senior UK diplomat has resigned over the matter. Share information about a company merging before its publicly announced? That said, I am curious if theres other context that explains why they fired you for a first offense without warning you first. But at the end of the day, Alison is right. The same goes for ratting out. It can take down evil people who mean to do others harm. She should have just sat with that feeling and let it fuel her resolve to never share confidential info with an outside party again. Yeah the world just being what it is, if youre this bad at keeping secrets, youre gonna get burned by it pretty quick. I always wondered if they remained friends after that fiasco. Maybe you get a 2nd chance IF you were contrite enough and blamed your excitement at the new teapot program. Of course I understand that I broke a rule, and that it was my mistake 100%, and it was no one elses fault. 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.. because your performance / screw-up affects them, or because they feel they are being compared to you and want to put the record straight to defend themselves), or out of a sense that they have an obligation to report (whether or not they actually do). If it comes across like you dont think it was a big deal or that you blame the coworker for alerting your employer, thats not going to go over well. No matter how small the company, they trust you to safeguard the data, and you didnt do that. Going forward definitely own this mistake and explain that you are freaking Fort Knox going now to new employers, knowing now the seriousness of such a transgression. Dont disagree feelings arent wrong but the way we think about them often is. I had the same thoughtthat was very unwise. Accidental disclosure of PHI includes sending an email to the wrong recipient and an employee accidentally viewing a patient's report, which leads to an . People tend to share with trusted confidants/partners/etc. 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. On other occasions, you might accidentally receive a confidential email with information meant for one person (or a few people) you know. If that puts it in perspective. Normally it can be resolved by contacting the person you wrote to by mistake, and get in writing that they have deleted it without doing anything with it. Ill add one point: You dont know that she didnt leak it. This is an issue in most fields. The embargoes I deal with are not earth-shaking (or even quivering), but the people involved are dead serious about not publicizing the information before a specific time. And then they did it again. ! but you just cant. Maybe you let them know more then they should even without meaning too? I think youd be in trouble for sharing that kind of information over the phone, regardless of who he was talking to. A federal appeals court recently addressed whether employees had standing to bring a lawsuit when their personally identifiable information (PII) was inadvertently circulated to other employees at the company, with no indication of misuse or external disclosure. I know Id be pissed at you. Ive had the occasional day when Ive really wanted to tell someone I met X today! This will suck for a long time writing this post has made me feel anxious thinking about my own lapses and consequences from years ago but it all works out in the end. For me, that was it. 5 unspoken rules that can get you fired - CBS News This is a long way to go for a publicity stunt. I understand that the breach was very bad and that the organization needed to take some disciplinary action, but it seems to me that firing an employee who fessed up to something like this to a senior coworker sends the message: If you mess up bad enough, dont tell anyone. Were considering opening ours up to partner agencies, and I spent a good two hours cleaning up the old messages in the general chat. 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. Share information about the new roller coaster being put in at a theme park? Thats the very last reporting step for something illegal/dangerous. And being mad at them is an effort to dodge responsibility and ownership of the actions that WERE at fault. Thats also real life. Ah, no, there definitely was a record if there was any form of written communication at all about the information. I empathize I LOVE being a person who is in the know and I can be impulsive. Then whenever you send a message, you'll be given an option to "Cancel" at the top of the message before it's sent. One day its pre-public FOUO information; what next? This incident was a huge violation of trust. Not saying you did this! The sharing of information is a violation of your professional duties and ethics and would get me 60% of the way to firing someone if I were your boss. but if you mess up and by the skin of your teeth get away with it, just DO NOT talk about it with anyone at the company. What happens when someone sees that message over her shoulder? While that obviously wasnt the result Id have wanted, I learned an important lesson about confidentiality, and its not a mistake Ill ever repeat.. Note: You dont want to frame this as It would have been made public eventually so I did nothing wrong. Your tone is still very much acknowledging that you messed up. Everything the OP described sounds like a non-public record. I totally get how it can be really exciting to hear about cool things, and the impulse to tell the people close to you. 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.. Honestly, I got the impression that the writer was on the younger end, just in their self-reported actions and reactions. So, I can talk about it, I can say Omg, there was one scene that I was just like SuperCheese! and rolling my eyes. I agree. The awareness that anything sent in your work email is subject to FOIA and open records requests really varies. A number of US governmental agencies specifically require that the co-worker NOT tell LW that she will be reporting this to management. She shared it via text not voice, but text, which could be seen by someone else. And theyll be first with the story. Im interested in the fact that the journalist friend is described as 100% trustworthy. (It also might be notable that you didnt originally mention that your friend was a journalist until I asked about it which makes me think youre underestimating how much that matters.). You may ask them to delete the email before they read it. This is a great point LW. People dont talk about it very much but it definitely happens. Bye. I sent confidential documents to someone by accident via email - Google As someone who practices public relations, calling this victimless gives me a lot of anxiety. While I agree that this needs to be explained in the right way. None of this makes you a bad person, untrustworthy, or unemployable. Because when your mentor is a coworker at the same employer, you cannot, cannot speak as freely. I actually think your big mistake was telling your coworker, not telling a trusted friend. There wasnt any risk, my judgment was good!. You will find another employer who will trust you and will give you that chance to shine for them. It doesnt matter if theyd trust this person with their firstborn child. Employees can't just post anything they want on Facebook or anywhere else. Leakage of Information - Employees and Data Leaks | Titanfile Penalizing or firing such employees may lead to the loss of good talent and even create a negative impact on employee morale. In the real world, it happens often enough that I think its more realistic to talk about the practical ways to do it that keep you on the safe side of the boundaries. If someone preempts that, theyre not happy about it generally. Because she knows other journalists who do cover your area and one of them just might need a serious break right when she knows this information. 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.. On Monday, I was called into a fact-finding meeting with HR. Trying to understand how to get this basic Fourier Series, Linear regulator thermal information missing in datasheet. I didnt agree with it myself, and knew that it wasnt really possible without raising a lot of money, something my organization just isnt that good at doing. It wasnt particularly kind to her friend, either. Its to prevent covering of tracks or retaliation or extinction bursts (Im about to be caught for X may as well make the punishment worthwhile and do Y and Z too, or if they are acting with deliberate malign intent Im caught, better leak as much as possible asap). It was super not personal, it was just a situation were second chances were not given, period. Per my story above, when I made the mistake that I was fired for, I did take responsibility at the time, and they fired me anyway. Sorry that this happened to you (Ive made stupid mistakes too) but you may want to consider keeping problems like this to yourself. I used to work at a public Zoo that was owned by the state, and so we were all state government employees. OP should be counting their blessings they only got fired and be upset with themselves for making such an obvious and preventable error, not expecting a large bureaucracy to break its own rules to accommodate them. I dont mean to sound harsh but you really need to break out of this frame of mind. Its good to hear from you! "Even if it were, transmitting some personal data by email does not of itself breach data protection laws in any jurisdiction" Actually in the UK the Data Protection Act would apply as it is being transmitted outside of the company without the express authorisation from the data subject. 2. 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. If you had the same role in a public company, you could have have been fired because of regulations preventing insider trading. If I had an employee that did this, Id expect them to be mortified and I would expect to hear how seriously they were going to take embargoes from here on out, and the LWs letter and response are almost the exact opposite. Am I missing something? I was sent home, and then fired over the phone a few hours later. I dont know. She already acknowledged that its 100% her fault. Assuming the coworker had evil intentions pulls OPs focus away from the real problem (disclosing an embargoed piece of information to someone not authorized to know that information at that time) and fixates it on the coworker. 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. What probably really hurt the OPs case was that the friend is a journalist. The misrepresentation of what happened is my concern. It makes her someone with morals and a respect for her employer. The coworker did the right thing. Those questioners would hammer her on this. If we think about this, not only did she trust her journalist friend, she trusted her coworker not to tell anyone either. never actually say the words Gross Misconduct. Dont blame your colleague she may have been obligated to report this. that one would be unable to resist texting a friend. That brings us to your questions. (And yes, the records request would come through the custodian of records, but the point of my second paragraph is that non-public information does not have special protections like confidential information and that the general public has a right to access that information as soon as it is available, and not just when the agency finds it convenient to send out a press release.). Once info is out in the community, you have no control over where it goes and any and all ramifications. Even innocuous-sounding information, like the name of a database, can be a huge security risk. NEVER by email unless explicitly given the go-ahead). But it could be that GSA's dad had a code/password to verify it was actually him and the caller forgot to verify that first. Since this incident, Ive taken steps like [saving journalist friends as contacts in a different phone, deleting my Slack channel, etc. That way, the Address box of every reply starts out empty. In fact, if I ever got a query from someone I knew, I was required to hand off the query to a colleague. I can see a manager getting pressure from the top to reduce leaks choosing to fire someone over even a minor leak. As a sidenote: *Even if* you think it *wasnt* a big deal, when you get hauled into the boss office and told it. This is so true. Absolutely this. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. So the judgment on trustworthiness is flawed. Remember when Beyonc lip synched at Obamas inauguration? Both your friend AND your co-worker. Thanks for sharing all of this. Nah. Eight Warning Signs of Potential Employment Termination and Eight Ways And especially in the field youre in, leaks are a big deal, and ESPECIALLY leaks to a member of the press. We were interviewing someone who had broken the #1 cardinal ethical rule in our industry (a branch of health care). But folks with strong confidentiality duties often dont disclose the confidential parts of the information to their trusted confidants or partners. Some seem to imply there is no reason ever to leak information, which isnt true. If it bleeds, it leads, and if its not bleeding, you might as well kick it a few times to see if itll start bleeding Nope. Im pretty sure the information wasnt actually confidential in the legal sense. Its also true that people do break confidentiality for a variety of reasons, but people who are really really REALLY aware that they are breaking confidentiality and how big the consequences of it are, are also on top of not leaving a footprint that can be traced back to them. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act now requires employers to give up to two weeks of paid sick time if you get the coronavirus or were told to quarantine by a doctor. Yep. I want to caveat that when I originally wrote this, it had just happened and I was still extremely emotional about it, which is probably why I chose to leave out important information in my initial question. Thats a good friend but you put her in a bad position. Same-sex marriage is going to be legalized tomorrow!. Sometimes they go so far as tell the bearer of the news that they now have to soothe them bc its their fault they feel bad. Good Lord, no. Its hard though, and its a skill thats learnt over time. @bent in my experience most companies view the data leaving their possession as the real concern, anything else is secondary. But doing so would likely out the department LW worked for, and probably LW herself. Oh, dear. For me, it was like OK, she shared embargoed information something she shouldnt have. In the US, sexual harassment wont merit a police response. Nothing dangerous, and while I was there it honestly wasnt even anything that would be a big scoop or exciting dinner party story. I hope you get past this, it may bar you from future government work, but not other placed hopefully if you follow Alisons advice and really own up to the mistake. You are right. I mean, yeah, absolutely! In my role there I was sometimes privy to confidential information that was not to be shared with the public. There is zero entitlement in saying that shes upset she didnt get a second chance. Basically, I was fired for X mistake. [Well-known bad person] is going to be fined/punished/arrested. 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. Then both OP and Coworker could be out of a job. It stinks but in this industry, thats a deal-breaker for many. Also, Ive seen plenty of firings that were absolutely not presented as position elimination. Even if the exact reason wasnt shared employer isnt going to say Oh, Jane took home a spreadsheet full of MNPI they will absolutely share that the ex-employee was fired for cause, not laid off. Im not cleared for it. Employees also. Yeah, its like that line from Horton Hears A Who. The above divulged details to a journalist about allocation and resources they should not know about. We are not in kindergarten. For what its worth, one thing I noticed from your letter is language that sounds very social, discussing your trust in your friend, being ratted out by your mentor, not being given a second chance, and so on. I did not get fired for the offense, but I genuinely learned a great deal from the experience and it changed the entire way I interacted with clients, for the better. I dont even share work release information (good or bad) early with my spouse. Im not sure whether this is something they can move on from or not, but they absolutely need to get themselves out of the mindset that their coworker ratted on them, because thinking that reporting things like that is tattling and childish is how corruption grows. The ex-coworker reached out to me asking if I could send them a copy of the report so they didnt have to start from scratch and repeat the same work they had already done. What I ended up doing is learning to avoid mopped floors as much as possible and warning people to be careful around them. End of story. I had friends who would jokingly-semi-serious ask me if I was poking around their accounts and such while I was working there and I would deadpan look at them and say your finances and personal information isnt interesting enough to lose my job over and then change the subject. Journalists discuss things all the time that dont make it into published stories, or make it into stories that get killed, or get used for shaping further investigation, or even just as gossip. I say dont lie during any part of the job application. I, too, have made foolish mistakes that cost me a job. Taking full responsibility isnt just the better moral choice, its the more effective one. They may very well have not had the option to give you a second chance, whether you wanted to or not. I think if the OP had framed the situation as, how can I get another job after being fired for being a whistleblower after I shared important but unfortunately confidential information with a journalist because the public has a right to know, these comments would be very different. Thats crazy (and crazy lucky for the embezzler). Oh, this is all interesting, and I appreciate all the responses. And theres a difference between feeling (sensation) and feeling (conclusion drawn from integrating sensations and information). If she really understood or valued confidentiality, she would not be trying to convince us of how victimless this was. The focus moving forward should be about realizing how serious a problem it was, how badly you feel about it, and how youre committed to not making the same mistake again. They thought it was funny and shared it with a couple more. Thanks for answering! I was coming to the comments section to say the same thing. Before I was born, there was a project where mother had to get clearance as well. I have accidentally terminated people, messed up HRIS changes that prevented people from getting their paycheck, and scanned/sent confidential information to an employee instead of myself. (IE: if they think you f*cked up, then respond like you did, however you actually feel). Unfortunately accepting responsibility doesnt always work in some workplaces, it just digs your hole. There are many ways to say thing like this without lying. So, he learns about things at the same time as the public, and he just knows when Im extra busy because theres a big release coming, or someone messed something up, etc.
Mr Peanut Voice Actor 2021,
Reach Supported Living Yakima Wa,
Summer Camps For Troubled Youth In Texas,
Scott Henderson Wme Email,
Articles C
