E-Mail: The ‘E’ Stands for Eavesdropping

Question

I am female. A male co-worker and I sent e-mail messages to one other that we thought were humorous, but were never of a sexual nature. This co-worker was suddenly fired and our supervisor told him one reason was that he harassed me. I have never in any way been offended by my co-worker's communication.

After my co-worker left the building with lunchbox in hand, I was upset and sent both of our bosses an e-mail giving them a piece of my mind. I then said that I was upset and sick to my stomach and proceeded to leave for the day.

My main concern is that they fired this guy for some reasons that are untrue and have put me in a bad situation. What should I do?

Answer 1

The lesson you may have learned the hard way here is to use e-mail at work judiciously. Cease and desist sending e-mail messages that have no business purpose on the job. While you may feel that your privacy is being pinched when your employer reads e-mail messages, the truth is that most employers do the deed and the law is unclear as to whether there is anything illegal about it.

Another truth is that may employers who want to fire someone will use whatever evidence they can find to act as a paper trail. More and more often, that evidence includes a printout of the former employee's e-mail that was used to waste time on the job or to heckle or harass a co-worker.

While it's impossible to backstep, using e-mail was probably not the best way to vent your spleen about your fired co-worker, either. It would have been better to have asked for a discreet meeting in person in which you firmly but calmly told your side of the story.

You say you are concerned that your co-worker was fired for the wrong reason. In truth, there may be nothing you can do about that. It is up to him whether he wants to make noise or file a claim about his discharge. If you want to set the record straight with him, consider giving him a call or dropping him a note. But beware of fueling the fire against your employer or of adding any more angst to the former employee's load. If you and the former co-worker were true friends, the best you may be able to do is to lend a willing ear.