Ive worked in the banking industry for a couple decades and this would be a fireable offense on the first instance, no ifs, ands, or buts. I dont know. read something out loud THEN realize that it wasnt public information. I would have serious questions about your judgment if I found out you told any reporter about something that was confidential. AND I told somebody within the company about that? I hope you find something good soon and can put this behind you. I did something similar over 20 years ago. The fact is, its just not their secret to share. That all strikes me as stuff someone quite young and without strong professional and personal boundaries acts. I agree with you that its ok for OP to feel resentful (at least in the short-run)! You didnt have a right to privileged information once you demonstrated that you werent trustworthy. Find somewhere else to tell it in order to release the steam valve. Yeah, but never let anyone else see it, and absolutely still use code names in case someone does see it. I think the wider point is that anyone can make that mistake at any age, and speculating about this part of it is irrelevant and not helpful. In fact, the coworker probably was obligated to report it anyway since she wasnt sure about the extent of the breach. You would never want someone to find out from the news media that they no longer have a job, for example. Assuming OP was correct and journalist friend never would have said anything, OP could have pretended it never happened. LW, people in the comments are also ragging on you for being upset with your coworker but frankly, I would be mad too! I was coming to the comments section to say the same thing. They may. I came here to say this. At the end of your explanation, look your interviewer in the eye, and dont say anything else. Alisons words are great to have prepared, and be super clear that you understand it was a problem, it was bad, and you take it very seriously. Some are minor, some are devastating. My guess is thats where some of the defensiveness in the initial letter comes from that no one would have known if not for the self-report. By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. Except that when the reference checker asks if the candidate is eligible for re-hire (for the position they left or any other position) should the opportunity present itself, the response will be no. Well, this is both unkind and off-base. I was talking about this upthread before I saw this discussion. In "Labs," scroll down to "Undo Send" and enable it. LW best of luck! I hope there are things at your job that are exciting to you! For the purposes of VIWI, a confidential client shall be able to establish a mutually authenticated TLS channel with the auth server and resource service, providing a trusted identity, usually in the form of a certificate signed by . Ive heard complaints from folks who arent allowed to give positive references to former coworkers who earned them. When I worked for the bank in the security investigation department, we had systems in place that monitored Famous Peoples accounts and would flag them if they were opened/touched. Or the surrounding land if its something that will raise property values. 1) Broke a rule Youll also want to double-check any attachments. If you embezzle from the company and tell a coworker who then reports it, the mistake is embezzlement, not telling a coworker about it. It may help in your next position to transpose your thinking around these things a bit. They made much more money off of the JK Rowling name. But the judge's response to the request for a. And then THAT person got so excited that they just had to tell someone Each person thinks theyre only telling one other person, and that they can trust that person. Judgement errors tend to repeat themselves. This was also my thought. Age is hardly an indicator of a persons ability to consistently make the best choices at all times. But even if there is no danger, an obligation to report is just that. I deal with it by having friends in the firm who I can say it to (but not in a bar!). We had a discussion on a work committee about not using our work emails when discussing some sensitive information. So no matter what, she cant be the person that you reach out to in any kind of way to share that kind of information. Sometimes were lucky and there arent any repercussions. Practice talking about it until you can truly pull it off. LW used Slack at work (and was not supposed to) It stinks but in this industry, thats a deal-breaker for many. I am not falling on the sword or putting my job on the line for a coworker. LW, we are all human. If you cant maintain confidentiality, you can work elsewhere. I agree, but its been called out and I dont want to derail on it. The company would have thought everything was hunky dory, but they would have employee on staff who did not understand confidentially requirements. Privacy Policy and Affiliate Disclosures. . It can feel like the end of the world but I promise you it isnt. This is not about a public records requestits about how information is released to the public before that information becomes public. On Monday, I was called into a fact-finding meeting with HR. Humans, in general, are not geared towards confidentiality and secrecy long-term. It may help you to know that the dreaded why are you unemployed right now question doesnt come up in every interview. The first person needs to understand that most of the time, you arent entitled to negotiate a yes, because the answer is no. People do stupid or extreme things all the time; their lives dont end, but they *can* be turning points for a downward spiral. If you want to work in comms, you need to be crystal clear that the TIMING of disclosure is a crucial issue. The damage from most leaks isnt visible until much later, but it can be massive. The reason all this info is locked down tightly is so that they can control the message when it goes out. Regulation people have heard of is going to be changed/repealed and its a big deal As others mentioned, the breach is possibly a fire on first offense potential, but since they fired you after investigating slack that makes me wonder if you had too casual and friendly of chats with the journalists whose job it was for you to talk with. Identify the cause of the information leak. I fully expect that whenever they find the source of the leak the people involved will face some pretty serious consequences up to and including dismissal and possible criminal proceedings. and sent to multiple people (!!)? Well 1.) Right. They sound far more serious than what happened. Dang! I wont get into too many details, but where I work had a plan that was controversial and there was both opposition to it, internal and external. Fascinating (and fun!) Whether nor not anyone got fired might depend on context, but somebody would at the very least get a serious talking-to. I would also lay odds that when LW says Coworker was understandably very uncomfortable with what I did, and we had a very nice conversation about our duties as communication officers, and trust, etc., that means that despite what LW thought about it being a nice confidential chat, her mentor figure was trying to imply to her that she was going to HAVE TO report the incident, because trust and responsibility. How to handle a hobby that makes income in US. 2. Why are Suriname, Belize, and Guinea-Bissau classified as "Small Island Developing States"? You got a hard hit, and I am sorry for all the difficulty that causes. I hope you get past this, it may bar you from future government work, but not other placed hopefully if you follow Alisons advice and really own up to the mistake. UK government has fired people for looking up records of contestants on reality TV series, multiple times. The financial firm I worked for had mandatory quarterly compliance meetings with examples of Dont Be This Guy Because He Doesnt Work Here Anymore. And by becoming the must fanatically trustworthy discreet person. Or at least, feeling like one should have been possible. 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. When you accidentally receive a confidential from someone within your own organisation, things are pretty simple. Id stay under a cloud of mistrust if that meant a steady paycheck if I didnt have anything else lined up. You can avoid finding yourself in this position by double-checking the recipient email address (especially when autocomplete is involved), the cc field, and the Bcc field. Of course I understand that I broke a rule, and that it was my mistake 100%, and it was no one elses fault. This is important both in terms of owning your mistake and not blaming the person who reported it. If that is so, there is nothing you can do to avoid the termination and you should be looking for new employment. It could also end poorly if the employer actually sees a job opening posted for the position the LW claims was eliminated. I understand that the breach was very bad and that the organization needed to take some disciplinary action, but it seems to me that firing an employee who fessed up to something like this to a senior coworker sends the message: If you mess up bad enough, dont tell anyone. I disagree. In other words, this whole line of discussion is moot. In jobs that require non-disclosure, active disclosure is a very big deal. Take this to heart in your next position and deal with sensitive information. Did you apologize profusely and then explain that there was some miscommunication here? The mistake was breaking company policy not that they announced to a coworker they broke company policy.. What video game is Charlie playing in Poker Face S01E07? Yes and thats the consequence they now have to live with. What!!! I admit to being incredibly curious as well. Under the "General" tab, you'll see a section called "Undo send.". That will go over much better with future employers. Doesnt matter if it was a friend. Specifics dont matter, but to me, being able to explain you told your friend your employer was about to buy this farm to build a park so they bought the farm so they could raise the price and make a profit would make a huge difference in terms of making the OP aware of the consequences of their actions. Like you said, it was a breach and thats serious on a professional level (your friend is a journalist, too! I had not thought about this issue via this lens, but I think youre 100% right. But what you were effectively asking your employer to do is trust a totally unknown (to them) journalist not to publish something that was apparently such exciting news that you, bound by confidentiality, simply couldnt keep quiet about it. Ah! I feel your pain. I just want to remind people that it happened. If theres anything else you can say about your work there to put this in context like that you had received a glowing performance review, were taking on increasing levels of responsibility, etc. I didnt know how to say it without seeming to condone the breach. Learn how to protect your investment management firm through intelligent email DLP. A recent Harvard Business Review article indicated widespread use in the workplace, with over one third of the US . There isnt really such thing as a rat in the workplace. Where did you go from here? But he either kept it so vague as to be useless or said nothing at all. I think that speaks to exactly why this was such a breach, though. Or they might have a zero-tolerance policy for leaks as a deterrent. I empathize, having both been in government service where the people can let the boundaries get too loose and, separately, had a career-breaking moment in a toxic workplace. As far as I know, he held the highest security clearance a civilian could have. Sure but I think its highly unlikely that someone at OPs level would have access to that. LW, youve learned half of your lesson, but really need to keep working to get there. In the real world, it happens often enough that I think its more realistic to talk about the practical ways to do it that keep you on the safe side of the boundaries. This is a solvable problem. Handling confidential information discreetly is a day to day part of working in communications, particularly for government entities (I say as someone in this field). Calling this victimless shows OP still doesnt have insight into their behavior. (i hope this story still makes sense with all identifying details purged, but hopefully its clear from context uh why i am purging all those details smdh) But it sounds like it doesnt really matter that HR jumbled the details because neither was a permitted thing to do anyway. 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). Im a journalist and Id concur and depending on how sensitive/important the information was, and what a big deal it was when it did break, you might have put your friend in a tough spot at her job by giving her a news tip she couldnt pursue or share with her colleagues.

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