I can’t help but suspect that Jamie is somehow to blame for this:
TWO secretaries at one of Sydney’s top law firms have been sacked after a catty email exchange that was circulated around the city’s legal and financial district.
Allens Arthur Robinson has been rocked by the cyber brawl, which began over a missing ham sandwich and ended with one woman taunting the other for being unable to hold on to a boyfriend.In a warning to everyone who uses email at work, Allens confirmed that Katrina Nugent and Melinda Bird had been sacked and other high-flyers were facing disciplinary action. The trouble began last Thursday morning, when Ms Nugent sent a group email to colleagues in the firm’s Sydney head office asking if anyone had stolen her lunch.
“Yesterday I put my lunch in the fridge on level 19 which included a packet of ham, some cheese slices and two slices of bread which was going to be for my lunch today,” Ms Nugent wrote.
“Overnight it has gone missing and as I have no spare money to buy another lunch today, I would appreciate being reimbursed for it.”
Melinda Bird fired back a terse e-mail pointing out that Ms Nugent had probably left her lunch on a different floor, and that’s when the fighting words started.
Ms Nugent taunted Ms Bird for being blonde. Ms Bird replied: “Being a brunette doesn’t mean you’re smart, though.”
Ms Nugent e-mailed her co-worker: “Let’s not get person [sic] Miss Can’t Keep A Boyfriend.”
The email exchange was then forwarded to colleagues at Allens who copied it to rival firms. Soon it was sweeping Sydney’s offices, drawing comments from employees of Westpac, Deloitte, Macquarie Bank and JP Morgan.
It never ceases to amaze me how people pay so little attention to email’s inherent lack of security. It’s bad enough that no one will use encryption technology, but to use your company’s server for stuff that will get you in trouble is just stupid. People, the chances are very good that your boss will eventually read your work emails… not on a daily basis, of course, but in the event any problems should arise, it’s the very first place they look.
Always assume that your worst enemy is reading everything you write. That’s the only sane way to approach email… and blogging, come to think of it.