On ham sandwiches and professionalism

There are some stories the Internet world just can't ignore. They're the ones that, no matter how unremarkable they may really be, get forwarded around the office, IM'd to friends or posted on message boards on a sluggish Monday morning. Today brought us one such story. News.com.au reports that two secretaries who worked (note the past tense) at one of Sydney's top law firms got the boot after a catty e-mail exchange that took place between the two of them got forwarded around not just their office, but many major financial companies.

The feud apparently started when one woman's lunch was stolen from an office refrigerator. It quickly escalated--in both tone and magnitude--and was soon the talk of the financial district. Soon after, both women were fired from their jobs for improper use of company e-mail.

The incident is just one of many firings that have taken place in the recent past over misuse of the Web at work. Of course, just what constitutes misuse is the $64,000 question. From blogging about work to perusing porn at work, employers are getting increasingly sensitive about how employees use technology in the workplace. In this case, a spokesman from the law firm told News.com.au, "E-mail is a business tool, not a personal messaging system--the use of it in this case was not in any way acceptable, nor is that the way we expect people to treat their work colleagues." And as more of these stories come to light, the precedent is being set that, like it or not, when employees are using company technology, they more or less have to play by house rules. The real take-away lesson from this story--for both employers and their workers--is how quickly a seemingly small lapse in professionalism can turn into a public matter. The Web just makes it too easy to laugh at others' ridiculous behavior.

Blog community response:

"Do you openly insult a peer in email and CC your co-workers? And finally, do you really fire people for minor, albeit stupid, lapses in email behavior? If I had to choose I would say that whomever decided to fire people over this is the stupidest. It's a tough choice."
--LoLife

"Two people fired for having a fight over company email and the bad thing is, it sounds like it was no more then a mild exchange. In fact, in my opinion, it??s more the fault of the individuals who go ahold of the emails and spread them around because they thought they were funny."
--Mike's Random Rantings

"Not only is that the lamest, most pitiful flamewar I've ever seen, but shouldn't legal secretaries, of all people, use good grammar?! Even people on Slashdot are more literate!"
--Slashdot reader mrchaotica