What am I doing wrong here in the PlotLegends specification? [Well-known bad person] is going to be fined/punished/arrested. Confidentiality can stink at an interpersonal level, everyone tends to talk about their work and it can be hard to hide things from people we care about. Employees who violate their companies' email policies can face penalties ranging from disciplinary action to termination. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. Shell lose credibility in the hiring process, and even if she did slip through and get hired, its automatically grounds for a dismissal if the truth ever came to light (even in Canada, where it is harder to let people go from roles than in most of the US states). I was fired from a job and when I started interviewing for following ones, I kept trying to spin it and it did not work at it. While I agree that this needs to be explained in the right way. You made yourself very vulnerable, your mentor knew that, and unfortunately, youre now bearing the consequences. Nothing got out about this before it was supposed to. 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. Everyone messes up. 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. Or if youd like to start a trial, get in touch and well be more than happy to arrange a free demo with your IT team. I sent confidential documents to someone by accident via email I need the file completely removed - Gmail Community Gmail Help Sign in Help Center Community New to integrated Gmail Gmail Stay on. We wont tell anyone. If you got the launch codes for the missiles, thats a big no no to share. Only hope going forward is own up flatly and without defensiveness . Im going to go see how they reviewed it.). (IE: if they think you f*cked up, then respond like you did, however you actually feel). A true 100% owning of what you did. That has an impact on real estate values and could make a government employee excited. Your coworker was probably legally obligated to report this, and even is she wasnt this is the type of breach that reasonable people WILL report. Period. Also, if your mentor went through the trouble of having a conversation with you about your duties and seemed concerned, I doubt she was out to get you she probably felt it was her duty and to her best interest to report now that you have made her an accomplice-after-the-fact in any potential breach (say, your friend was the one out to get you and it leaked before your department had any plans for dealing with a leak, this mentor would also be in trouble for not reporting it as soon as she knew if they found out she did), OP I want to comment on one aspect that I didnt see anyone mentioning directly. There could be a situation where it might be the journalists job to share the information LW thought they were telling to just a friend. It is ok to be upset at the coworker but it is important to recognize that she did nothing wrong and is not a rat. 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.. If someone stole money from their workplace, or illegally harassed a coworker, and their colleague reported it would that person be a rat too? Reduce human activated risk to protect against email data breaches, Allow your teams to communicate securely and share sensitive data, Guiding principles that govern how we operate as a team, Diverse and inspiring individuals passionate about making a difference in the world, Join our team across a range of roles and help shape the cyber security market, Tailored compensation and career paths designed to attract and retain world-class talent, Unique and personalized benefits to help maximize your potential with us. Thats also real life. when we had a high school shooting, a student I knew (10 y old) and who got into it (gladly uninjured) got a visit from his own uncle who was a journalist that very evening, who came to visit the parents and then proceeded to try to get his nephew to talk about the details. If nothing exculpatory came out in that meeting then maybe firing was the appropriate response. Some of the stuff I handle is really interesting logistically and historically but I just do not have the right to get carried away and share it. Remember when Beyonc lip synched at Obamas inauguration? should I tell my coworker about our colleagues criminal record, I deeply regret joining my companys leadership program, and more, my company is cutting my overworked teams pay as punishment for mistakes. and sent to multiple people (!!)? Libel or slander or posting comments about individuals that are not related to your work environment are not protected. Funny story: My mom used to call the bank I worked at where she had an account. Im in public relations/global communications. OP, please do not take this comment string seriously, because internalizing these statements will severely harm your ability to address your error effectively. And it makes sense that it is. Resist the temptation to gossip about fellow employees and don't express your disdain for your. And the coworker, well, this was information that was a major conduct infraction, not just embarrassing or private if a coworker told me theyd done this, Id have promptly reported it, not to humiliate them, but to start the process of damage control. Heres what to do. (Even before learning it was to a reporter!) That guilt is because you KNEW you did something that was explicitly not allowed, and you went to your coworker in the hopes theyd absolve you of your guilty conscious. Employees. But from there you can talk about what you learned from the experience and how this makes you a better employee/candidate now. Oh, dear. They might push the company to reverse your termination. If youd like to learn more about human layer security and email data loss prevention (DLP), you can explore our content hub for more information. At the time, I thought it would be ok since it wouldnt cause a problem, but I realize it was not up to me to make that judgement. Equally, when we had a client who does the same job role as someone I know, I had to completely embargo that piece of information in my head, because I know that its a small field and my friend might recognise the detail I thought was vague enough to be anonymous. This is a very important life lesson, both for your professional and personal life. The mistake was breaking company policy not that they announced to a coworker they broke company policy.. While it didnt result in any press, it was obviously a major lapse in judgment and I understand why it resulted in my termination. It doesnt matter if it was text or Slack, a single journalist or a whole group. Contact the unintended recipient It's a good idea to contact the unintended recipient as soon as you realize the error. (I think, I never worked in government communications so Im not positive of this.). I supervise a manager who falsified an employee write-up but I dont think she should be fired. She IS a rat! Like its going to be easier to find a job because she has the integrity to say she got fired. She was understandably very uncomfortable with what I did, and we had a very nice conversation about our duties as communication officers, and trust, etc. The letter writer came here and owned up to what she did and said she knows now it was her fault what do you want her to do, throw herself on a sword? +100. If Jane knows, then it cant be too bad.. And then that coworker did tell someone, and she was fired. NEVER by email unless explicitly given the go-ahead). Once youve actually done the thing, its out there. There is zero entitlement in saying that shes upset she didnt get a second chance. Can You Be Fired for Sending Personal E-Mails at Work? Based on the post its probably public now, so I would guess its likely not too exciting. 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. 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.. Learn that about yourself, and move on. Ive heard complaints from folks who arent allowed to give positive references to former coworkers who earned them. Its hard though, and its a skill thats learnt over time. As the other commenter noted, this could have been a very serious offence considering you were working for the government. You asked how to handle this in future interviews and one key is owning the mistake, taking responsibility for it. Because I said I wouldnt, I knew there would be consequences if something like your story happened to me, and also because, hows that going to look to a potential future employer that might value confidentiality equally highly? I am replying under Engineer Girl for a reason. A further 2 years can be added onto the sentence for aggravated identity theft. In my role there I was sometimes privy to confidential information that was not to be shared with the public. She could have been a secretary or a spy; no one knows because she went to her grave never telling anyone, not even her husband. You can get through this, but be honest with yourself! Having a mentor at a different organization in a similar role might be a good idea for the future. Maybe OPs workplace does the same? You know thats not how that works. I sent a compromising message to the wrong person. How will I ever While it is possible the line could be actively tapped/monitored by someone else, even if it was an unsecured line it would be reasonable to assume the home phone number on file for GSA's dad would lead to the dad. That said, is there any reason you need to answer these questions? It would have been better if she had told you first that she was going to tell someone I wonder if OP ever got the chance to correct the misunderstanding. The letter makes it look like you only told one person out of turn, but actually you told two people. If you werent human, you wouldnt make mistakes. Our grant program is going to be fully funded by Congress! Sharing HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL info with a JOURNALIST? 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. Or even if you sit at the bar and the llama design keeps crossing your mind and you talk before you think. Good points, and good advice for anyone whos apologizing for anything. that should be a firing offense. It still sucks, but its not really personal per se, and perhaps it will help a little bit to think of it that way. That all strikes me as stuff someone quite young and without strong professional and personal boundaries acts. Im of course devastated, and moving on and figuring out my next steps. Recurring theme here is that tattling isnt a thing at work. It was a big enough thing that they gave you a 1st chance. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. 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). Its what you do with what you learn that is important. I have worked and volunteered at government-related organizations before. That doesnt mean youre a horrible person who should never work again! It sounds like youre taking responsiblity for your actions and are doing your best to move on. If you open a phishing email and it results in your company's confidential information being compromised, your employer may fire you. You want to minimize this, and thats natural. It would probably breach a few laws in other European countries too. The misrepresentation of what happened is my concern. How risky is sending a sensitive work email to the wrong person? That oh honey is so unnecessary, and questioning LWs age is just rude. I had the same thoughtthat was very unwise. It was a couple of telling E-mails that helped bring down Bear Stearns with the subprime loan mess crashing . That brings us to your questions. Youll also want to double-check any attachments. Even though shes made the same mistake 2 times). This was also my thought.