As a sidenote: *Even if* you think it *wasnt* a big deal, when you get hauled into the boss office and told it. A person who is aware of a breach is required to report it. But I cant talk about the specifics of that scene. While I agree that this needs to be explained in the right way. I strongly disagree with this. Your assistance is much appreciated. Yeah just assume that for the next few years youre out of the running for jobs that require a confidentiality. We were interviewing someone who had broken the #1 cardinal ethical rule in our industry (a branch of health care). I was fired for technically breaking a rule but it was my first offense, and nothing bad actually happened, and Im definitely learned my lesson. All rights reserved. And by becoming the must fanatically trustworthy discreet person. What probably really hurt the OPs case was that the friend is a journalist. Yep, I have a friend whose grandmother was a codebreaker and took loose lips sink ships seriously till her dying day. I see a lot of people saying that its always wrong to share confidential information with the press, and thats not necessarily true. Under the "General" tab, you'll see a section called "Undo send.". Agreed. Im not trying to teach her a lesson, necessarily, she seems to have gotten the point. Or at least, I can. If it was more time than 6 months, thats a resume gap that a recruiter will ask about, and if the OP lies about the gap, an experienced recruiter will hear it in her voice. And off the record requests from journalists arent mandated by law. Once you told your coworker, you dragged her out there on the plank with you. For the other 2 questions, I would simply urge you to remove the phrase ratted out from your professional vocabulary. But what you do when youre on the other side of the inbox? The answer hinges in part on what constitutes truly private communication, says Christine Walters, an independent consultant with FiveL Company and author of Helping Leaders Limit their Liability by Learning the Law. The company would have thought everything was hunky dory, but they would have employee on staff who did not understand confidentially requirements. Just a bad situation. I wouldnt lead with it, but I wouldnt hide it either if it ever comes up, and folks will likely ask about why youve left past jobs. Accidental disclosure of PHI includes sending an email to the wrong recipient and an employee accidentally viewing a patient's report, which leads to an . 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? This kind of reaction from the company screams 'serious laws broken' and there aren't many other possibilities on what these laws maybe. A lot of times, the actual employee might not be important, but they might know something like when a key senior person works, or gossip about so-and-so, that is then used to either help with hacking, help with fraud, do additional social engineering where they know just enough about a topic to lead the conversation, or in some cases to put pressure on a higher-level person to try to get them to give further information or make certain decisions. The emphasis on how not harmful the infraction was is totally hurting your case, OP. Even if you trust her 100%, she is still too high risk. It was super not personal, it was just a situation were second chances were not given, period. Yeah, I thought it was from her personal cell too. So while the OP can feel what the OP feels, the sooner she can get rid of any hostile feelings about the coworker, the better it will be for the OP. Thats the person were gonna call the blabbermouth in this situation? No 2nd chance especially because you knew it was a no-no before you shared. Sent a confidential email to the wrong address? I guess you just say I inadvertently let an important piece of information get out and I will take extraordinary safeguards to never let that happen again. It was the wrong thing to do, and Im sorry. The info I released did not in fact cause any problems, but I tremble now because it so easily could have, in even slightly different circumstances. This is a situation that youre going to have great difficulty explaining away and I might prefer a resume gap to being at such a disadvantage. We call this a misdirected email and it's really, really easy to do. She should have just sat with that feeling and let it fuel her resolve to never share confidential info with an outside party again. But this was a self-inflicted wound, and you shouldnt frame it otherwise. This is why you never ever confidentially share work-related things with colleagues. So in regards to the tell an imaginary friend idea, I have also: openly disclosed highly confidential information to a) my cats and b) Jesus. Yes, this. How to answer question on moving to another country for job? Nothing got out about this before it was supposed to. I think that is also part of the lesson that OP needs to learn. Spek raised a good point- find out what your HR policy is so you know what to be prepared for in an interview. In a roundabout way, they somewhat did you a kindness by firing you. And Im not saying it was fair or unfair or whether your previous employer made the right call. Later the coworker left the company and at company B was asked to write a similar report for the new company. rev2023.3.3.43278. 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 protected classes are race, age (40+), sex, national origin, religion, or disability. And this will definitely have an effect on how you come across to people interviewing you in future. The 2nd chance is just too much risk as far as theyre concerned. I think people beat themselves up enough internally without us having to do it for them most of the time. The advance knowledge of something pending going public is a very powerful position. I know there are cases where someone might fear retaliation etc, but with a higher up getting a subordinate into (deserved sorry OP!) The org needed to know in order to assess potential damage and limit future opportunities. However, it is unlikely that the circumstances of your firing will be able to be overlooked by an employer who needs to trust your judgment with sensitive data, definitely for the foreseeable future, possibly for many years into your career. Since that didnt happen Im not surprised you werent given a second chance. A 40 year old making the same mistake would be much harder to trust later. 3) The recipient was a journalist thats super relevant, even if its not in their area Now I just leave and cry and deal with the long-term consequences, like never moving up. She already got that advice from Alison. Your coworker then followed proper procedure when learning of this data breach- their actions were not ratting you out, their actions were following proper protocol for what an employee who is working at a company that frequently deals with sensitive data is tasked with doing once they learn of a data breach. No one ever called for a reference. It could be that the info you leaked was especially confidential, or that theyve been concerned about other leaks and are taking a hard-line stance. 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. Ive been under NDA for things I cant even disclose to my boss, much less a friend outside the organization. This incident was a huge violation of trust. Have you learned from your mistake? I think people are reading defensiveness from the qualifiers probably and suppose. I can sympathize that this is still very raw for OP and perspective will only come with more time. Its a bigger deal because that friend is a journalist. Those usually come out the morning of the speech. You colleagues are often the closest people to you, so it makes sense to want to tell them about your problems (which include work screw-ups), but you cant. Excitedly texting confidential, FOUO information to a friend who happens to be a journalist, unconscious of the optics and real potential harm? In other words, this whole line of discussion is moot. You didn't accidentally email the material to yourself, you did it on purpose. But your processing of it has to be at one step removed. Was this alone enough to be fired, or is there a history? By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. Yikes. Its very possible that LW could think what happened to me wasnt totally fair and still accept full responsibility for it during interviews (which is obviously the smart thing to do). Funny story: My mom used to call the bank I worked at where she had an account. One colleague really didnt like the plan, and he was communicating with people who were organizing opposition to it using his work email. The fact that her co-worker actually followed the rules of her employer does NOT make her a rat. If not, that would be an additional reason for your bosses to take the maximum option to respond. I wanted to say, it sucks you lost your job after this one time indiscretion, but Im glad you understand the seriousness of it and with Alisons script, I hope youll find a new job soon. After all, nobody wants to tell their manager that they might (however accidentally) be responsible for a data breach. No. I have been fired for a dumb mistake. So yeah, confidential stuff is confidential for a reason. If you had stayed, they would never have trusted you again. 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? But when youve broken someones trust, they dont owe it to you to offer that opportunity and shouldnt offer it unless they sincerely believe that you could meaningfully repair the breach quickly and comprehensively. 4) The coworker was absolutely right to report the breach in confidentiality. Ramp up your privacy settings across all accounts. Based on the post its probably public now, so I would guess its likely not too exciting. (IE: if they think you f*cked up, then respond like you did, however you actually feel). Whether or not you knew about the policy upfront, you need to be ready to discuss steps you take to stay informed about policies and ensure you're following them. I work within the tech/analytics field. update: is my future manager a bigoted jerk? I actually think this was a little rough of her mentor. (Most companies that use these kinds of scanners dont let employees know. Your second co-worker who sexually harassed a woman was put on a PIP?

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