Legal advice...

erazor51

erazor51

erazor51

Associate
Joined
18 Dec 2010
Posts
597
I work for a company where I was shared a confidential email but the email it self did not state it was confidential or to keep the contents in the email confidential. If you read the email you can judge the contents of the email to be confidential though.

Now I’d like to know if you happen to mistakenly talk about the email, could the company give you a disciplinary or terminate your contract because of it?

Thanks
 
If you were to share details of the email would you be infringing upon the rights of any individuals?

If its common practice to share emails of such a sensitive nature with employees such as yourself, and you are aware of the emails confidentiality and importance then you are held accountable for any fallout due to negligence.
 
Thanks for your response.

No contents of the email were shared. Only the nature of the email.

No, just started getting it a day before the incident.
 
erazor51 said:
Now I’d like to know if you happen to mistakenly talk about the email, could the company give you a disciplinary or terminate your contract because of it?
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Potentially yes, of course they can. Doesn't even have to be an e-mail but if you share some confidential information you're privy to as an employee of that company and it has a negative effect then that might well be grounds for dismissal.

You might well find there is some clause in your contract covering this if you've not already got a separate nondisclosure agreement.
 
Thanks all for the responses.

I didn’t share the contents of the email. I just summed it up with an employee by saying this person who got terminated is requesting access to their personal data, which is all I said.

Realising my mistake sharing that I told the employee this information I shared was highly confidential. What happened after was that employee then shared it with another employee.

Where does that leave me...
 
erazor51 said:
Thanks all for the responses.

I didn’t share the contents of the email. I just summed it up with an employee by saying this person who got terminated is requesting access to their personal data, which is all I said.

Realising my mistake sharing that I told the employee this information I shared was highly confidential. What happened after was that employee then shared it with another employee.

Where does that leave me...
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I suspect a few of you might get a bit of a telling off about sharing confidential information. At the end of the day, a company can't stop "workplace gossip" if someone has been fired etc, people will talk about it.

The person most likely to get in trouble would be the person who shared it with you first when they shouldn't have done.
 
You’ve still not said what the issue is here OP? Has someone complained and you’re now facing a disciplinary?
 
You can claim that you weren't aware of the confidentiality, and if your story is true, you'd have a good case.

I do however suspect that there's a lot more to this than you're telling us.
 
Diddums said:
You can claim that you weren't aware of the confidentiality, and if your story is true, you'd have a good case.

I do however suspect that there's a lot more to this than you're telling us.
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I'm no lawyer but I'd imagine the company could argue there was an implied requirement of confidentiality, evidenced by the fact the OP realised straight away the information was confidential and attempted to correct the mistake.
 
You need to look at your company policy.

Did you share it with a colleague in the same department?

Why did you share it? Gossip or for work related purpose?

Could be used as an education piece or they could go heavy handed and initiate disciplinary. But, the sender should be disciplined too, they can't just pick and choose who they discipline over this.
 
ivrytwr3 said:
But, the sender should be disciplined too, they can't just pick and choose who they discipline over this.
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That would depend on why the sender sent it to the OP. If it's because of a data access request and the OP works in the IT department, it may have been entirely necessary for the original sender to give to the OP.
 
Pudney said:
That would depend on why the sender sent it to the OP. If it's because of a data access request and the OP works in the IT department, it may have been entirely necessary for the original sender to give to the OP.
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The manner in which it was handled could have implications though - if it was sensitive, etc. normally everyone involved i.e. if it was something that required IT staff would be called into a meeting and sign confidentiality documents or made aware of the mavity of the circumstances. So the original sender might be in trouble for not following proper procedures.

For instance where I work while it didn't involve me I had to be aware of something that was going on and had to sign that I was aware that specific details were under embargo, that I shouldn't discuss the details of what was going on on social media and that if approached by the press I should refer them to a named spokesperson, etc.
 
Semple said:
I suspect a few of you might get a bit of a telling off about sharing confidential information. At the end of the day, a company can't stop "workplace gossip" if someone has been fired etc, people will talk about it.

The person most likely to get in trouble would be the person who shared it with you first when they shouldn't have done.
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I got shared the contents as I work in IT and I know how to extract the data and have it exported in a readable format.

dowie said:
You’ve still not said what the issue is here OP? Has someone complained and you’re now facing a disciplinary?
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When I shared it with person A. Person A then shared it with person B. Person B then shared it with Person C who works in Legal that took this whole thing to the next level and also contained the leak by speaking to all of us to not have it spread further.


dowie said:
You’ve still not said what the issue is here OP? Has someone complained and you’re now facing a disciplinary?
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Yes, I will have to go in for disciplinary and present my case. no action has been taken yet, they want to hear my side.

ivrytwr3 said:
You need to look at your company policy.

Did you share it with a colleague in the same department?

Why did you share it? Gossip or for work related purpose?

Could be used as an education piece or they could go heavy handed and initiate disciplinary. But, the sender should be disciplined too, they can't just pick and choose who they discipline over this.
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Different department, who sits opposite me. Just gossip.

Rroff said:
The manner in which it was handled could have implications though - if it was sensitive, etc. normally everyone involved i.e. if it was something that required IT staff would be called into a meeting and sign confidentiality documents or made aware of the mavity of the circumstances. So the original sender might be in trouble for not following proper procedures.

For instance where I work while it didn't involve me I had to be aware of something that was going on and had to sign that I was aware that specific details were under embargo, that I shouldn't discuss the details of what was going on on social media and that if approached by the press I should refer them to a named spokesperson, etc.
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i didn't sign anything, also the email it self didn't say confidential. Original sender sent it to me to help extract the information and have it ready in a readable format.
 
Also when person B spoke to Person C. Person C thought I reviled all the contents int he email, which I did not, which is why this whole investigation is taking place and im being taken in for disciplinary.
 
erazor51 said:
I work for a company where I was shared a confidential email but the email it self did not state it was confidential or to keep the contents in the email confidential. If you read the email you can judge the contents of the email to be confidential though.

Now I’d like to know if you happen to mistakenly talk about the email, could the company give you a disciplinary or terminate your contract because of it?

Thanks
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Last couple of cases I dealt with on what sounds to be similar / identical, were summary dismissal on GM with immediate effect.

Retaining your job in these circumstances tends to be on technicality rather than in your favour.
 
How do you mistakenly talk about it? It's obvious you keep your mouth shut about things of that nature. I'd just look for another job and resign.
 
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