Really? Maybe OPs workplace does the same? (The fact that your friend is a journalist makes it particularly egregious.) But even the first is really really, really bad. Its also possible that she got caught in a broader crackdown on leaks and thus wasnt given a second chance when she otherwise might have been. Thats a good friend but you put her in a bad position. This issue recently came up for me as an interviewer. (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.). Even a private company would consider this a breach of trust, and could could consider firing. Good luck! The OP would be better off to own up to her mistake and her mistaken thinking in saying/writing/texting the information, say what she learned from it, say how she would plan to deal with a similar situation about exciting confidential information if this ever happens again, and conclude by saying that it was 100% her own fault, that she doesnt blame the organization, the manager, or her coworker, that she understands that she put her coworker in a horrible position, and that she will NEVER do anything like that EVER again. 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. Can you get fired for accidentally sending confidential information? Unless this job was the bulk of your experience, I would leave it off your resume. If you live in a place where its illegal to shoot guns into the air, and you shoot a gun into the air and the bullet does not actually kill anyone in its fall, you have still broken the law and placed others in danger. Youll get another job. Yup, landline. I have also had to recommend the firing of a personal friend. OP came to her, she felt guilty, they apparently talked about this a bit, so why not tell her that this cant be kept secret and she has to come forward to her boss ? It can bring vital information to the public who have a right to know. Perhaps over official lines it could be interpreted by the journalist as on the record comments. Journalists get embargoed or off-the-record information all the time and are able to play by those rules. I agree that its ok to be upset with people, even if its irrational or illogical, as long as we ultimately let it go and refrain from mistreating someone because of our illogical emotional response. You will bounce back! Forgetting the attachment. Hows work? Oh my. Learn how to protect your investment management firm through intelligent email DLP. It could also end poorly if the employer actually sees a job opening posted for the position the LW claims was eliminated. Occasionally our clients have been in the media and have shared part of their story. Thanks for sharing all of this. 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. The type of violation you are talking about normally only applies to confidential (shall close) records and not non-public (may close) records. Im not curious at all, but Im different. 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. LW, first, I want to offer sympathy. 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. If you talk about sensitive stuff in public you best be sure youre actually anonymizing what you have to say. A very long-term employee who did excellent work, as a joke, made up a fake news release that indicated we got the contract. Privacy Policy and Affiliate Disclosures. Yep! Its a big difference if you sit together at a bar, your friend mentions chocolate teapots and you say oh, this morning I was asked to design a llama-themed one before you realize that you really shouldnt have said that. President issuing an executive order on (issue the agency deals with) Even though shes made the same mistake 2 times). Since that didnt happen Im not surprised you werent given a second chance. In fact, the coworker probably was obligated to report it anyway since she wasnt sure about the extent of the breach. The employer has a policy against this and everyone working there has signed that they read the policy. The protected classes are race, age (40+), sex, national origin, religion, or disability. That has an impact on real estate values and could make a government employee excited. Im still pretty upset that I had no second chance, but I suppose I just lost their trust.. RIGHT NOW it is totally privileged information and it needs to be treated that way. In my first job out of college in the insurance industry I reinstated someones coverage without verifying that they had had no claims in the lapsed period they immediately called claims and filed a $40,000 claim. When we accidentally receive a confidential email from people outside our own organisations, things are a little trickier. Well 1.) Mandatory reporting is a thing that exists. The enforcement has to be based on the idea that the leak was damaging. In McMorris v. No one ever called for a reference. 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?!. 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. Yeah just assume that for the next few years youre out of the running for jobs that require a confidentiality. 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. Yeah. Right. Leaking anything that could put those things at risk is an insta-fire offense. Its not great, but some breaches really are that serious, and employers cant always be like the library giving amnesty for late fees if people bring the books back. Later when I moved on, it became my absolute best interview topic when asked about a mistake and how I handled it. Before I was born, there was a project where mother had to get clearance as well. Goes a long way to being the right way to describe this. 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. Any info I pull, I have to be able to explain why I pulled it and what I was doing with it. Life is full of these weird potholes we find ourselves in at times. But would the government do that? Which is actually good most of us get making a mistake when were young, and really learning from it. Or if the coworker only decided afterwards this couldnt be kept in the dark, call her and tell her this. It will also help you to not repeat the mistake in the future. In those cases I have to be even more careful, because minor details might get linked to the news story and suddenly its not anonymous any more. 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 could have just sent the report and most likely no one would have ever known, but it would have been a violation of company policy. And, of course, some agencies dont have a policy and, when contacted can provided whatever info they feel is relevant. If you cant keep a secret, this is not a field you should be in. Take full responsibility. I consider it my greatest ethical obligation in my job, because I have been entrusted with sensitive information and I treat it like Id want mine to be treated. The secretary is going to be featured at [cool upcoming event]! Dont blame the co-worker for ratting you out. As a former journalist, I can assure you journalists dont leak information, unless its something confidential about their own employers. No one is trying to tell the OP that she needs to be friends with this former coworker. And by becoming the must fanatically trustworthy discreet person. Agree with this. Certainly not an electronic blog. UK government has fired people for looking up records of contestants on reality TV series, multiple times. Moving on from that company is probably a mixed blessing. Or they might have a zero-tolerance policy for leaks as a deterrent. Many Government Agencies have specific rules about reference checks. 2 July 2018 at 9:11PM. Some projects you could talk about with a trusted friend as long as you didnt get specific, but shouldnt announce on twitter. 2) Told someone you broke a rule. Once you told your coworker, you dragged her out there on the plank with you. There wasnt any risk, my judgment was good!. Is there a single-word adjective for "having exceptionally strong moral principles"? However, if the message appears urgent to somebodys life or career, its likely youll want to consider stepping in. The OPs comment here didnt seem defensive to me at all, and its definitely understandable that the letter was written in the heat of the moment. Was the friend a journalist, or is there something else that would explain why she said that? The reply: Yes, the friend I texted happened to be a journalist but doesnt cover the area that I was working in. Its like pain (heck, it IS pain); its telling you something important. Yeah, Im wondering that too. And I think you can share your excitement with others, just not the information. The problem here is that the OP misjudged the level of confidentially expected in the situation, and maybe by their office/profession in general. I dont think you have to be Catholic.). (Obviously it would have been best not to give her journalist friend the info to begin with.) Youve got some great feedback from Alison and I hope it all works out for you. You are disappointed you didnt get a second chance. As a fellow human being, I absolutely get the impulse to tell someone about something! Ms_Chocaholic wrote: . obviously i cant know that for sure though. Im not feeding a narrative, Im expressing my opinion. And youre being very generous toward the coworker in saying she misunderstood and mistakenly misrepresented it. I think the wider point is that anyone can make that mistake at any age, and speculating about this part of it is irrelevant and not helpful. But the other person she spoke to, her coworker, told others, and somehow that message (of who and how she leaked it) got twisted into something much worse. If not, that would be an additional reason for your bosses to take the maximum option to respond. Not necessarily for the leaking but for the way youre talking about it. Never mind firing for leaks, they dont even hire people who appear to have poor judgement about confidential information. I have a friend whose mother did work for an intelligence agency during WW2. How do I explain to those potential future employers that the only reason I got fired was because I was ratted out by a coworker for a victimless mistake and was fired unfairly, without sounding defensive? [Well-known bad person] is going to be fined/punished/arrested. As in I am so, so sorry! I cant say any details yet, but needed to share my excitement!!. Thats an important impulse to explore to avoid other similar situations with gossip. I, too, have made foolish mistakes that cost me a job. I am not falling on the sword or putting my job on the line for a coworker. This reminds me of people whose response to hearing no is well, how do we get to a yes? LWs response to this was unacceptable and we cannot have a person on our staff who would do this, was Oh, okay, well, next time I have a similar opportunity here I wont do this.. But from there you can talk about what you learned from the experience and how this makes you a better employee/candidate now. This is incredibly condescending. OP wasnt a journalist. 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. Tessian Cloud Email Security intelligently prevents advanced email threats and protects against data loss, to strengthen email security and build smarter security cultures in modern enterprises. LW best of luck! 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). You committed battery. I realize you want to minimize your mistake! Sometimes I see stuff that is cool to nerds of that particular field, but 95% of my Secret Information from clients is not even interesting to them. The project Im currently working on has confidentiality and embargoes that are all geared toward creating a marketplace moment. Egress Intelligent Email Security is an example of human layer security, as its able to adapt to your individual behaviour through machine learning. 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. I work for a public universitys PR office and I 100% know Id be fired if I shared info with anyone before pub date. Oh yes. You've learned from this mistake and had no malicious intent. Browse other questions tagged, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site. Also in any governmental job or any job governed by many laws and regulations (such as medicine, law, dentistry, etc) they are laws and compliance regulations in place that must be abided by and every employee had to sign such an agreement usually yearly but at least upon hiring. Well meaning (or at least not meaning harm) maybe, but very foolish. The mistake was breaking company policy not that they announced to a coworker they broke company policy.. the coworker had an obvious physical feature that the poster mentioned, so the company was able to figure out who was discussing it in a public place and *fired* them for it. Thats why they told you the information was confidential. (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.).
Maddening Cacophony Ruling, Dusty Lane Farms Ionia Mi, Articles C