I wouldnt be obligated by anything other than displaced loyalty if I wanted to try to be squirrelly of course but I respect myself way too much and have my own standards to just keep quiet about things. I think youd be in trouble for sharing that kind of information over the phone, regardless of who he was talking to. You asked how to handle this in future interviews and one key is owning the mistake, taking responsibility for it. Of course, its your fault but it is only human to be annoyed with someone, especially someone who seemed to completely misrepresent what happened. Yeah, if the LW is in the US or things operate the same way in their country, theres no point in trying to lie or even waffle about what happened. I know Id be pissed at you. Really? Based on the post its probably public now, so I would guess its likely not too exciting. How you analyze the situation and internalize the lesson is more important than wording for future employers right now. They must always assume the worst case anyway. 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. (Even if its not an area she covers, she likely knows the person who does, and journalists share tips/info all the time.). Just wanted to point out that OP said they worked in the government, so while yours might be the public understanding of confidential, it wouldnt apply to anything their job considered confidential. I mean, mayyyyyybe but the OP put the coworker in a really uncomfortable position here, and while Im sure she didnt mean to, thats what she did. OP if I was part of an interview for you, and you brought up this situation the way its phrased here, Im sorry to say it would be an immediate pass. But if youre singling people out, or only using it in the context of chastising someone, then yeah, for sure condescending and rude. Thank you for saying that feelings are never wrong. Your tone is very this wasnt a big deal and I shouldnt have been fired for it, when it really should be I made a foolish mistake which I deeply regret and Ive definitely learned my lesson. A non-disclosure agreement (often referred to as a confidentiality agreement), is a legally-binding contract which governs the sharing of information between people or organizations and sets limits on the use of the information. It will also help you to not repeat the mistake in the future. I completely agree that in the long run, this was a kindness. I wonder how trustworthy the LW considers themself (sp?)? One of my friends is working on projects that she cannot list on her resume now that shes applying to jobs and I only know that because Im looking at it and she told me shes frustrated because she has good work that she can quantify but cant talk about yet. It was bananas. The person whos emailed may have inadvertently caused a data breach, so it could be important you get in touch and let them know. Age doesnt matter here. Or well often hear from contacts on the Hill about something going on behind the scenes, like that a bill is about to be introduced. The secretary is going to be featured at [cool upcoming event]! But he either kept it so vague as to be useless or said nothing at all. It may be unfair to assume a journalist is cutthroat and would kill for a lead. Obviously leaking to one journalist that youre friends with is better than leaking to a whole Slack channel full of them, but partly because its possible to do the first innocently, whereas theres no question of innocence with the latter. In addition to 100% needing to own it when asked about it, I think OP may also benefit from focusing the job search on jobs that dont involve handling sensitive or high profile information. Perhaps Archie neglected to mention it. In my experience, it was highly effective. Your coworker didnt choose to know this information and does not owe you silence. I also wanted to address a couple things that jumped out at me in this part: Also, am I even allowed to bring up the fact that someone ratted me out? I am now going to assume that its exactly that. (Im not from the US, and not in government) If I were in OPs place, I would also be upset and feel betrayed. Everyone makes mistakes at all points in our careers. You undertook those actions while working for (1) A Large Governmental Organization, who is answerable to Congress and to the general public for the actions undertaken by their employees, in the (2) Communications department, which is a department where employees will specifically, systematically, regularly be exposed to confidential information that should be kept confidential until such time as it is explicitly said to be something that can be shared publically. Yeah, I wish the mentor had walked the LW directly to the boss to discuss this openly. The employer has a policy against this and everyone working there has signed that they read the policy. 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. broke a rule can be trivial, even if its technically a firing offense. I have information that I have kept confidential for more than a decade that I know the patients wife does not even know (think undisclosed criminal record). Yeah, one of my former coworkers, who was allegedly fired from our company for bringing a gun to work, found another job a couple months later in our same industry. 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. How do you approach company policy in general? This kind of reaction from the company screams 'serious laws broken' and there aren't many other possibilities on what these laws maybe. He was employed elsewhere within a few weeks. Oh, I wish Id seen this before replying. I am very sure they didnt want to fire him. Its not an obligation to confront. 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. 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. Man I am swamped with the publicly known project I am barely treading water. You didn't accidentally email the material to yourself, you did it on purpose. I dont love not being able to tell her things (even though we are each others I promise not to tell anybody (but Friend) person), the way we share this information is by forwarding press releases once the information is public. With regards to getting a new job within the software engineering/analytics/data science field, I wouldn't lie on application form and in interviews if asked why I left my old job. The fact that you were surprised and angry (to the point of calling her a rat, essentially) speaks to the fact that you actually do NOT know who you can expect to keep things secret, at least not as well as you think. No, not if its classified or embargoed. Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship. In that case its not so relevant that there was a misunderstanding. I work for a charity that offers a telephone service nationwide, and I take a lot of calls from people in quite distressing situations. Agree with this. Yeah, wouldnt it be possible to prove (or rather disprove) that you leaked to a slack channel full of journalists? Leaking information can actually be the right thing in some cases. Its not their call. This is awkward to frame as apparently it would have passed unnoticed if you hadnt taken aim at your own foot and then pulled the triggerit would be better if you were fired after fessing up to your superiors, rather than involving anyone else. As a government employee they are obligated to report a breach of information regardless of whether they like the employee they are reporting or hate their guts. 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? When they call for a reference, many employers will absolutely say if you were fired or laid off, and they will give detailed references. Sorry that this happened to you (Ive made stupid mistakes too) but you may want to consider keeping problems like this to yourself. The difference is if the potential for and type of jail time you risked. We go through training every 6 months, that we should NOT to tell the coworker or customer that we will need to report them. Of course, it wasnt your mistake and youre under no legal obligation to do anything at all. 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. Possible scripting adjustment: I mistakenly shared some non-public information with a friend outside the agency before it was officially released to the public. Dont disagree feelings arent wrong but the way we think about them often is. 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). Even when it doesnt require them to report it, it still could have consequences they dont want to be a part of! Only hope going forward is own up flatly and without defensiveness . Best wishes to OP in her work on this. There are offenses, especially regarding releasing items, that would be serious enough to warrant immediate dismissal. Be careful. If she hadnt told the superiors, she could have been on the hook as well if it came out that you told a journalist confidential information and then told her about it. Lack of impulse control. So, I can talk about it, I can say Omg, there was one scene that I was just like SuperCheese! and rolling my eyes. |. Depending on the circumstances, you can indeed get fired for sending what you assume to be a private email or text. The type of violation you are talking about normally only applies to confidential (shall close) records and not non-public (may close) records. For the other 2 questions, I would simply urge you to remove the phrase ratted out from your professional vocabulary. Shouldnt she be in trouble too? and there she would be, going down with you. I love telling people things! Theres no such thing as blind-siding once youve committed an infraction and people have to act on it. She can still apply to jobs in her field, and even in the fields you noted, shell just have to be very clear in interviews that she understands why she was fired from this job and how shell work to ensure nothing like this ever happens again. The part I think is dangerous is calling the coworker a rat and saying that disclosing to friend was not a mistake.
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