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. Nothing got out about this before it was supposed to. There is a greater issue here regarding judgement. ugh, no if you cant tell them the actual news, dont tease it. Sometimes they do, and other times they tell the person telling them that they or their actions negatively impacted another person that *they* are the ones in the wrong for telling them something that made them feel bad. and that person did what they were told to do and reported it. And if it is a part of that, the coworker was obligated to report it! This is a good way to think about it. Sometimes that PHI belongs to people I know. That really set the tone for the reference she gave. Had OP not made the initial mistake and then compounded it by telling the coworker, shed still be employed. And even now you sound defensive. [duplicate]. If asked specifially try to describe in detail what happened and what you learned from it, for example: ask if the new employer has clear guidelines on data handling. As this was almost the entirety of your job they really couldnt keep you around. Or at least, feeling like one should have been possible. The financial firm I worked for had mandatory quarterly compliance meetings with examples of Dont Be This Guy Because He Doesnt Work Here Anymore. I fully expect that whenever they find the source of the leak the people involved will face some pretty serious consequences up to and including dismissal and possible criminal proceedings. They looked at themselves as an organization and realized that the damage was irrevocable. Yeah, I agree. No matter how small the company, they trust you to safeguard the data, and you didnt do that. They might push the company to reverse your termination. If you were fired for an embarrassing reason that would torpedo your chances in an interview, say that your position was eliminated. I remember the first time (as a teen) that I had something from a volunteer position that I had to keep my mouth shut on. Regardless of what the coworker did, ideally we want to nudge OP toward exercising greater impulse control and discretion if OP wants to have a successful career in the same sector/field. Its so very context and field dependent. How to answer question on moving to another country for job? how to explain you were fired, when interviewing. Its like winning the jackpot in a slot machine then declaring that you KNEW you were going to win, so it wasnt really gambling at all. Sometimes their hands are tied too. +10. I think that is also part of the lesson that OP needs to learn. If you told, you breached confidentiality, no matter what the other people did. I dont think we fired anyone but the need for absolute confidentiality was reiterated. Oh yeah, my response wasnt to you it was just to continue what Alanna said. The issue of whether HIPAA information can be emailed is complicated. nsx advanced load balancer documentation; . Im of course devastated, and moving on and figuring out my next steps. Just because a story wasnt published about it doesnt mean it wasnt discussed internally among coworkers. From a government point of view, the only thing that matters is this: LW was trusted to handle confidential information and keep it inside the agencys control; instead she passed that information to someone outside that permission (whose job is to disseminate information to the public!) Really? Then your story isnt just I did something wrong, they found out, and I got fired, its I did something wrong, I knew it was a mistake and told a senior member of my team about it, and as a result I got fired. The more you can acknowledge that you took responsibility for your mistake, the better it sounds for a potential employer. You did wrong, fessed up, and got fired anyway. Oh no! 4. Which means have to vet things like your friend is a journalist, but doesnt cover your area? One of my coworkers saw another coworker sexually harassing a woman. I work for a state government agency and FOIA is a really big deal. I think its very strange that so many commenters are trying to police the LWs feelings about the coworker. update: how can I turn down training requests from my clients? But it sounds like it doesnt really matter that HR jumbled the details because neither was a permitted thing to do anyway. Good luck to you I think Allisons advice for answering questions about this experience is spot on. 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. 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.. You committed battery. I found out accidentally.) you get to a point where you just really really need to share. Thats just not something you can let yourself do. The government takes this stuff very very seriously. But how do I explain this story to future employers? I suspect youre referring to a case where a patient was put in danger, but where no obvious harm occurred like a psychiatrist consensually sleeping with their patient, which an unscrupulous psychiatrist might see as a victimless crime, but which is incredibly risky behavior. Your employer lost control of this information, even in a very small way, and thats a big deal. 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. Sorry this happened, OP! I just wasn't thinking at the moment I sent the information. It involved something the OP had learned about in confidence, but hadnt even been publicly announced and the OP blabbed about it to someone completely unrelated to her job. You are almost certainly an at-will employee so you can be discharged at anytime and for any reason or even no reason at all. The z department is not allocating the staff they promised. 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. I wont lie, Im tremendously curious, but I also know this is just one of those things I will never get to know. But OPs situation sounds like more of a case of I am just soooo excited about Cool Thing that I had to tell rather than something dangerous or corrupt is going on and the public should know.. If not, that would be an additional reason for your bosses to take the maximum option to respond. Its a common occurrence, especially within a large business where autocorrect can incorrectly select people with similar names. No one is trying to tell the OP that she needs to be friends with this former coworker. I totally get how it can be really exciting to hear about cool things, and the impulse to tell the people close to you. Posting confidential company information, good or bad, is not protected. I stopped when my boss had a stern talk with me about it, but also because I noticed that I was getting the bad news later, too (other people at my level were told about layoffs the night before, I was told shortly before the companywide announcement) and I realized I was getting a reputation as someone who could not be trusted to keep my mouth shut. We let him go for incredibly poor judgmentlike putting me as a reference, for example.. 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. journalists dont leak information, unless its something confidential about their own employers. 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. Dec. 17, 2009 -- You probably don't think twice about sending personal messages through your work e-mail. This is essential to sanction the employee and also send out a clear . I resent our new hires for setting better work-life boundaries than our company normally has, hairy legs at work, my office sent me a random TV, and more, heres an example of a great cover letter with before and after versions, my employee cant handle even mildly negative feedback, my new coworker is putting fake mistakes in my work so she can tell our boss Im bad at my job, insensitive Diversity Day, how to fire someone who refuses to talk to us, and more, weekend open thread February 25-26, 2023, assistant became abusive when she wasnt invited to a meeting, my coworkers dont check on people who are out sick, and more. Calling this victimless shows OP still doesnt have insight into their behavior. Youll also want to double-check any attachments. Are you being GDPR compliant in your marketing? And by becoming the must fanatically trustworthy discreet person. I would argue if you acknowledge your error in judgment, it would work more to your benefit, then classifying it as a one-off mistake and overreaction by your company. Im in public relations/global communications. Better to say in a single instance of poor judgment I let a piece of information get outside of the company to one person which I immediately knew was a mistake and I notified someone in my company. They care a little more in the last 2 years, but not much. Telling the trusted friend was the fireable offense. I am not falling on the sword or putting my job on the line for a coworker. As I read it, LWs friend couldnt pass the information along at all. Its not an obligation to confront. Youll get another job. 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. Or you mistyped her email by one letter and it went to a colleague who had no reason to respect the embargo? If you want to work in comms, you need to be crystal clear that the TIMING of disclosure is a crucial issue. Unfortunately there are certain positions where you dont get a second chance when the error knowingly breaking a rule. Embarrassing or inappropriate communications sent via company email can damage professional credibility, reputations, and careers. Either way, if you commit an offense, its best to never go with its not that big of a deal anyways. Owning up to your mistakes at the right time is hard and the natural instinct to defend yourself is strong, but ultimately thats the best thing to do and garners respect. If yes, that is relevant to the question. Then both OP and Coworker could be out of a job. You made a mistake. Getting fired sucks. Can you get fired for accidentally sending confidential information? Yeah. But when the guilt is deserved, its got a purpose. Leaking private information in a huge breach, especially if that leak is to a journalist. Not me. I used to handle accounts, but could not handle my own. ), Because honestly, the more I thought about this letter as I read it, the more uncomfortable I got, too. and that was interestingthey had criticisms I hadnt thought of. Instead, the employees found out by reading the news instead, which hurts morale. But you should try to understand how this happened (why that friend? Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. But Im a journalist whos covered federal agencies, so I know super exciting to agency employees does not necessarily equal huge news for everyone else. OP has been mature about admitting fault, lets not undermine that by implying it was no big deal. Im very aware of that reality, so I confine my work email to work stuff only. I dont mean to sound harsh but you really need to break out of this frame of mind. But they took confidentiality very seriously, and I signed an extremely ironclad NDA, so I never told anyone any of the interesting tidbits I found out about from working there. Confidentiality is a big deal for a lot of reasons, and people in those types tend to respect that. So no matter what, she cant be the person that you reach out to in any kind of way to share that kind of information. Maybe you havent worked with, or known anyone whos worked with, sunshine law and right-to-know, but this is incredibly serious for anyone who has. Excellent points, especially LWs use of ratted out. Alison has said so many times that theres no tattling in the work world. that should be a firing offense. What happened is reputation-ruining for such jobs so re-assessing what is realistic in terms of job expectations after this is important to moving on successfully whatever you think is appropriate] to make sure it doesnt happen again.. The penalty for breach of confidentiality isn't restricted to employees who have . I think this really depends. Any of them. You've learned from this mistake and had no malicious intent. Thats pretty ratty behavior. People do stupid or extreme things all the time; their lives dont end, but they *can* be turning points for a downward spiral. Even though he loves the MCU and would have enjoyed the anecdotes. Hind-sight is 20/20, but the LW should have thought twice about sharing that leaked incident with any coworker, especially a mentor who likely would be obligated to let the higher-ups know. 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 have been fired for a dumb mistake. Me too in Government. A little time isn't unreasonable. +1 on the choice of language and framing. If its the government, theyd be defending Area 51 unless its a false flag operation, and the point is for the invasion to occur, but show nothing suspicious, because the government already relocated all the aliens! Yes, this. Good luck! Don't worry, you're still qualified to be Secretary of State. If that got into the wrong hands it could even result in the end of civilization. What I find interesting in the original letter is LWs insistence that it was a victimless crime because nothing bad happened as a result of their leak. They might tell superiors accidentally, out of frustration (e.g. LW, please, please look hard at what happened and how you can promise yourself first of all that this was the last time. Likewise, they would have fired you anyways regardless because they now feel that they cannot trust you with information. Compare someone in law enforcement happening to find out the (secret) address and phone number of their friend-groups favorite celebrity, or finding the contact information for the cutie in the convertible, after their roommate catches the license plate numberand sharing. If OP reasoned I told mentor, confident that there was NO WAY she would let anything slip it throws a lot of doubt on her parallel reasoning of how certain it was that the journalist wouldnt let anything slip. That doesnt seem to be you, which is a great sign. Its not possible to catch every mistake or typo over the course of a whole career. She was an employee of the agency, who shared it with the journalist. If its a marketing message, spam, or something that looks entirely unimportant simply delete and move on. I mean, yeah, absolutely! At some workplaces, the hiring process includes security checks that even go into your social media profile, blogs, etc, to see whether your personal communications display a suitable level of discretion. When we make mistakes, they are impactful, but we're human and it happens. Even if they knew she used Slack to talk to journalists in general, its a massive enough leap from I told a friend via text that Im side-eyeing the coworker and HR a little. Based on the post its probably public now, so I would guess its likely not too exciting. I will be in so much trouble if anyone finds out! your blindsided coworker is not required to enter into a cover-up conspiracy with you. Both of those would merit a reprimand, separately or together, but somehow in the telling it got turned into that the latter happened with the former as the method. 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. A while back I had a coworker/friend who created a memo, for our company A, all based on publicly available information, along with suggestions and comments by the coworker. If she had been doing something perfectly acceptable, seen by someone who misunderstands the situation, and fired because of that, then she would be an innocent victim of a very unfair employer. I felt as defensive and upset as you. Your second co-worker who sexually harassed a woman was put on a PIP? LW told a human known to be a journalist about The Thing. Coworker Dorcus, who used to write down what time the rest of us got in each morning so she could report to our supervisor when the rest of us were late, even though he hadnt asked her to, even though Dorcus had no idea when wed left the night before, how late we were working that day, or what arrangement we had with our supervisor? I just want to remind people that it happened. For the other 2 questions, I would simply urge you to remove the phrase ratted out from your professional vocabulary. I once interviewed someone with a great resume but had switched specialties within the field. And definitely let go any butthurt about your coworker they did nothing wrong and followed clear policies on reporting this incident. Employees can't just post anything they want on Facebook or anywhere else. (And even then, the existence of the record has to be disclosed even if the actual record is not disclosed. I even tell friends this who work in classified situations and I dont even report the news anymore.). Maybe a different (and appropriately mortified) approach from the OP in those meetings would of had a different result or maybe not! but the approach in the letter definitely would have convinced me to let her go if I was on the fence. Leaking information can actually be the right thing in some cases. One piece of information I learned (that has since been announced publicly, but hadnt been at the time) was SO EXCITING that in a weak moment, I texted one friend about it in celebration. One of the things your field requires is to be able to think and act dispassionately about the information you have custody over. how else could you have met that need?) For excellent reasons. I have to deal with famous folks at well; I work for a company that handles federal medical insurance and every once in a while I might run across Justice X, Senator Y, etc. This is a great point LW. What the saying about eyes, ears, mouths??? I think its fair for you to be upset that you didnt have another chance, but also understandable that your employer felt it couldnt give you one. Accidents or mistakes are bound to happen. Especially in banking! They take information security and confidentiality so seriously that they make delivery people who come to the offices sign an NDA just in case they were in the elevator with Sam Jackson. I wrote back and asked, Is there more context for why your coworker thought that? Its your actions that are right, wrong, or in that confusing gray area, and what you feel doesnt have to dictate what you do. With all the Data Protection rules, the E-privacy Regs, yes - and sorry, GDPR, my friend was in panic mode as they still didn't really understand their situation. I doubt she is the only person that has ever done anything like this. I used to work at a government agency and it was super hard to get fired so I can understand your consternation. It goes through a game of telephone and the person at the end of the line gets mad that the first person would say such a thing. 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. In a roundabout way, they somewhat did you a kindness by firing you. Practice talking about it until you can truly pull it off. Keep your chin up are you not getting any extra help? Yeah, I wish the mentor had walked the LW directly to the boss to discuss this openly. Im sorry this happened to you, OP, Im sure it feels devastating, and it sounds like some of the details were inflated but there is a good reminder here for all of us as some things cant be undone. Just wanted to point out that OP said they worked in the government, so while yours might be the public understanding of confidential, it wouldnt apply to anything their job considered confidential. Interpretations, justifications, conceptualizations can also be wrong, surely. This friend understood the gravity of the information I told her, and I 100% trusted her to not leak it. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. Taking full responsibility isnt just the better moral choice, its the more effective one. In other words, dont assume the information only went to the person you sent it to. 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. How to get feedback on application rejections sent from a noreply mailbox, Is it bad to answer "Why/how did you get into that job" with "Because I just wanted a job". Thank you for saying that feelings are never wrong. So if shes genuinely surprised at this outcome, it stands to reason that its new for her, which strongly implies she just hasnt been working very long, which implies youth. I will add that I consider neither my cats nor Jesus to be imaginary; the connection was someone you wouldnt get in trouble for sharing with. Yeah, wouldnt it be possible to prove (or rather disprove) that you leaked to a slack channel full of journalists? In fact, if I ever got a query from someone I knew, I was required to hand off the query to a colleague. And there are reasons the rule is dont leak, rather than dont leak (except to people youre *really sure* wont tell any one else (except people who they are really sure they wont tell anyone else (except people theyre absolutely positive wont tell anyone else))). I disagree. The coworker could have totally done the right thing and the LW would still have a right to be annoyed and hurt by the action. Some things a company wouldnt want you to tell a competitor, but wouldnt mind if you told your spouse. Period. Employer found out and had grounds to fire you. It was a big enough thing that they gave you a 1st chance. Oh yes. Where I work, I cannot legally share information about very exciting things that are happening/about to happen. 27 April 2021. Handling confidential information discreetly is a day to day part of working in communications, particularly for government entities (I say as someone in this field). Challenge them directly and be sure that when they say it's okay to start at 9.30am, make sure they actually mean it, or don't do it. The information was work i was working on at the moment and I emailed it as I needed to do work on my personal laptop ; I couldn't take my work station away whilst on extended leave overseas. Although paragraph (b) (2) does not require the lawyer to reveal the client's misconduct, the lawyer may not counsel or assist the client in conduct the lawyer knows is criminal or fraudulent. Or the surrounding land if its something that will raise property values. OP will also want to consider not focusing her career path on jobs that require a security clearance for classified information. She showed no contrition or reflection. No, not if its classified or embargoed. I think she was trying to lessen some of the guilt she felt, but really she should have just sat with that feeling and let it fuel her resolve to never share confidential info with an outside party again. Sometimes it can be a blessing in disguise. Accept responsibility for what you did. And then that coworker did tell someone, and she was fired. I admit to being incredibly curious as well. It sounds like OP is young enough that they havent learned that there are some jobs where gossiping about your workplace with your friends is okay, and some jobs where that absolutely cannot fly. When telling me about the call, she said that when the checker said the guys name, she couldnt stop herself from bursting out, Wait, he told you to call me?!. Where did you go from here? Also, she wasnt a journalist I ever interacted with professionally shes a friend Ive had for years. OP, its great that you trusted your friend enough to be confident that she wouldnt share what you told her. 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. Accidental disclosure is the unintentional release or sharing of sensitive information. Share information about the new roller coaster being put in at a theme park? You take this as a hideously painful lesson, and change your behavior across the board, and most people could see that as a learning moment, from which you learned. I had to learn the hard way, Im afraid, but I did learn. I missed the phrase ratted me out in the original message, but given those feelings, it doesnt really count as self-reporting. 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. Employees. People dont talk about it very much but it definitely happens. We just had something similar happen at my office last week. It stinks but in this industry, thats a deal-breaker for many. Heres what to do. She has to protect her job and reputation as well in the end, she shouldnt have to risk her own job stability due to your choices! Since you touched on it in your follow-up, OP, dont look at this as not getting a second chance. You are its just going to happen at another organization. 2007-2023. 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. This was a Friday. OP: Practically everything I do in my job is confidential to some degree. 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 work for a charity that offers a telephone service nationwide, and I take a lot of calls from people in quite distressing situations. Or, maybe they totally overreacted, who knows its impossible to say from here. But thats not what happened here. This incident was a huge violation of trust. Unfortunately, someone did leak the info so all the employees read about the information in a major business news website AND the local newspaper the night before the event despite the intention for the employees to hear the news firsthand at the event before it was released to the public. Whether it's done to work from home, to print . Remember when Beyonc lip synched at Obamas inauguration? If youve no idea who the message was supposed to go to, simply let the sender know you received it by accident and move on. You can bounce back! @MarkAmery OP said themselves that what they sent was 'client confidential information' but ruled out trade secrets/IP being involved. Rather than leading you on and allowing you to continue to work for them under a cloud of mistrust (and all the downsides that come with that), they made a clean break and released you to get a fresh start elsewhere. Your understanding of confidential is not mine. The person you wronged is not obligated to give you that second chance with them. I do not believe in using it for personal gain, even the minor personal gain of sharing juicy secrets with someone. If Jane knows, then it cant be too bad..

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