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My coworker hit "reply all" by mistake — she was fired the next day
I'm sharing this story as a warning to check, check, and recheck your emails before sending. My coworker replied all to a company email I had sent instead of responding just to me. While the email was short, it said negative things about our boss and when she hit reply all, he was on the email chain! She apologized immediately but our boss laid her off this morning.
I'm really upset about losing a good coworker, but I understand that even careless email mistakes can lead to termination. Has this happened in your office? Do you think it's right to immediately fire someone for this behavior?
Jessica Virtuoso, MBA, SHRM-CP
Level Up Your Leadership
116
09/17/20 at 7:10PM UTC
I think that employer should be wary of a wrongful termination suit. Unless there was some explicit code of conduct violation, firing someone without having record of cause - progressive warnings, a PIP - is a recipe to embroil yourself in unnecessary litigation. Furthermore, who hasn't sent something snarky about a co-worker?
Let's disregard for a moment that morally and professionally, this is wrong behavior, but let's be realistic about the fact that it happens...it's critical for HR and the employer to think about all of the consequences and give that person a reasonable chance, which includes an apology to the person being spoken about negatively and a public commitment to do better.
That being said, save the snark and negativity for a verbal conversation. It would be absurd for me to say the words "don't speak negatively about so-and-so" - realistically, we all get into venting situations. However, make it a habit to think twice before putting it down somewhere that could come back to bite you in the tush professionally.
Chrissy C.Talent Engager and Connector
78
09/17/20 at 6:25PM UTC
At a former employer, there was a lot of reply-alls that happened mostly in circumstances for positive reinforcements or congratulatory instances. Unfortunately never something to this extent. Reply-alls can be unnecessary email clutter for senior leaders but for everyone in general, so a situation where negative emails have been sent can result in everything from verbal warning, put on probation, up to grounds of termination (depending on content sent). What happened to your college is unfortunate, but was unprofessional behavior. Whatever route a company chooses to do to address situations of this nature, it sets a precedent so consistency is key in addressing those "wrongdoings."
J AcharyaProject Manager
198
09/16/20 at 3:31PM UTC
I think it’s a bit extreme to have terminated the employee - I think a warning would have been sufficient. However I completely agree that it was unprofessional behavior and ultimately can’t fault your boss for firing her.
Michelle IchihoOperations enthusiast in Raleigh, NC
18
09/16/20 at 1:38PM UTC
I had a similar situation happen to me, but it was one of my employees who accidentally Skype messaged me some negative feelings towards me instead of her co-worker she was trying to vent to. When I received the message and saw the frustration and anger my employee had, I never once thought of firing her. Yes she made a mistake and vented in an unprofessional way, but as her leader it made me look to see how can I address these things to be better for her and the rest of the team. The employee immediately reached out to apologize and I wanted to respond until we could speak in person. It was actually a really great learning experience for the both of us and created a relationship based on open communication and trust.
But I agree with other comments, we are professionals and we need to make sure to act so especially in our written communication because you never know who might see it.
Maria Molinari Team Lead / Project Coordinator
565
09/16/20 at 11:41AM UTC
I have witnessed multiple incidents where someone made an honest mistake and lost their job because of it. I can relate to being upset that a good employee will no longer be with the company but I can also see the haste in removing them from the company. I think people do need to pay a bit more attention to their environment and what they say and do in the office. Everyone has days where their boss gets to them or a customer or even another coworker but we do need to remain mindful. My boss got to me once, if I were to have said something or reacted to it and lost my job, that would have been a heartbreaking consequence to a momentary feeling. We are still professionals, I think the key is to just stay mindful.
Jenn McFatter, aPHR, CCFP Veterinary/HR Professional in Austin, TX
65
09/16/20 at 3:31AM UTC
I recall an incident when I was early in management at my current job: I had a constructive feedback conversation with an employee, and it went well. My employer is very big on documenting these types of communications, so I wrote it up in an email as usual. However, I accidentally included the party I had spoken with on the email CC! I guess his name was on my brain, or I thought I was in the subject line-- who knows? Luckily, the email was very honest and essentially just a recap of what we had talked about, nothing overly negative or any additional commentary.... I still had to tuck the tail a little, I realized my error & panicked the second after I hit send. But now I have a healthy paranoia where I triple check who I am sending things to, especially when they are sensitive!!
Anonymous
09/15/20 at 8:43PM UTC
I was made aware of a glitch in our email system when I was forwarded an email showing someone got into an executive's email account. It was bad enough that the person who forwarded said we would not want the email regarding XXX getting the XXX job as XXX was leaving the company to get out early. First problem, reading emails when you got into someone else's account (accident or not), second forwarding and telling me you read them. I managed to get it stopped and a patch put into our email system to stop this glitch. This person was put on a performance improvement plan to ensure they never did this again. Always think about what you are doing and what you are forwarding. You basically admin what you did and prove it. Read and re-read what you will be sending, especially when you forward anything and do not try to do anything like this which is unethical in my eyes.
Anonymous
09/15/20 at 8:27PM UTC
Great reminder! NEVER put anything in writing you wouldn't want someone to read....going beyond this WATCH what you put on social media. It can destroy your chances for a role in a second. People interpret things in different ways and different times. just cause its a cool thing to say today does not mean it will be cool 2 years from now....stay professional....
mcasterlloydDallas EA; Writer, Artist, Graphic Designer
52
09/15/20 at 8:16PM UTC
Always treat emails like what you send will be front page news. You never know who will forward even a private email.
Lisa SchneiderDigital Strategy & Product Innovation
44
09/15/20 at 8:15PM UTC
Unfortunately the mistake wasn't just hitting "reply all," it was memorializing such statements in company email regardless of where it was directed. As the saying goes, "Dance like nobody's watching; email like you may one day be reading it aloud in a deposition."
Tracey (Janesheski) Gleason
50
09/15/20 at 9:18PM UTC
Wholeheartedly agree with your last statement - I vividly remember once hearing in a training "Never put in writing something you wouldn't want to explain to a jury of your peers."
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