Privacy/Email/False Complaint

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Gaijin

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I emailed a coworker from my home, on my private e-mail account, to her private email account. We are both contract employees (faculty at a small college). The e-mail concerned a matter that is embroiling our college, and about which we are on different sides. My message was worded professionally and conditionally (if, then, may, etc.). Here it is:

I've been thinking about why staff (and perhaps some faculty) do not share their true feelings with you. Let me preface my comments by admitting that I don't know. All I can do is try to make reasonable guesses. But one possibility has to do with confidentiality. Some may worry that what they share with you could end up in the ear of the president. I'll admit that the thought crossed my own mind when I saw you leaving [the president's] office this afternoon. For a moment I regretted sharing [former employee's] comments about [the president] so frankly with you.

Perhaps there is also a sense that for whatever reason (be it [the president's] interest in and support for the arts, personal ties via [faculty member], etc.) you will reflexively come to his defense, and that you will be skeptical of critical comments and question their validity. At the very least, it is clear that critics do not feel secure about confiding in you.

Be that as it may, I think you are doing a disservice to [the president] if you lead him to believe that these concerns are limited to a few malcontents. I don't know to what extent he relies on you or others to be his eyes and ears on campus, but if you misjudge the reality on the ground, and then convey that misjudgement to him, you are not doing him any favors.

For example, with [faculty member] and [faculty member] out of the room, [the president] may have been led to expect that addressing these concerns would have the effect of demonstrating their lack of broad support, and that validations of the concerns would be balanced by voices in his defense. Instead, he was hit left, right, front, back, and center by deep expressions of concern that essentially lent credibility to [former employee's public and critical] letter and to the entire process that has been underway for more than a year now.

I do want to keep the lines of communication open, and would like to hear your thoughts.


So, the letter implied, but did not assert, that she might be passing sensitive e-mail correspondence among faculty to our president. She promptly delivered my email to our HR department, claiming that it was "threatening." Nothing in the letter remotely implies any kind of threat. She has not lodged a formal complaint, but the very idea that she would turn this in to HR, and that HR would not summarily rebuff her out of hand, is upsetting to me.

Can I prevent this from being entered in my permanent file? What are my rights?
 
No, you cannot prevent them from putting it in your permanent file. Just because you did not consider it threatening doesn't mean that she saw it the same way. I can potentially see a perceived threat, though I believe you when you say it was not intended.

Your rights are to tell your side of the story when and if asked for it. Depending on what state you are in, you may have the right to put a rebuttal in your file. (If you post your state, I can tell you if you have that right or not.) But what to put in your file is completely up to the employer.
 
Does home to home factor in?

The state is California.

And doesn't the fact that this was composed after hours, and sent personal account to personal account matter?

By the way, what would be the perceived threat?
 
I emailed a coworker from my home, on my private e-mail account, to her private email account. We are both contract employees (faculty at a small college). The e-mail concerned a matter that is embroiling our college, and about which we are on different sides. My message was worded professionally and conditionally (if, then, may, etc.). Here it is:

[I]I've been thinking about why staff (and perhaps some faculty) do not share their true feelings with you. Let me preface my comments by admitting that I don't know. All I can do is try to make reasonable guesses. But one possibility has to do with confidentiality. Some may worry that what they share with you could end up in the ear of the president. I'll admit that the thought crossed my own mind when I saw you leaving [the president's] office this afternoon. For a moment I regretted sharing [former employee's] comments about [the president] so frankly with you.
Perhaps there is also a sense that for whatever reason (be it [the president's] interest in and support for the arts, personal ties via [faculty member], etc.) you will reflexively come to his defense, and that you will be skeptical of critical comments and question their validity. At the very least, it is clear that critics do not feel secure about confiding in you.

Be that as it may, I think you are doing a disservice to [the president] if you lead him to believe that these concerns are limited to a few malcontents. I don't know to what extent he relies on you or others to be his eyes and ears on campus, but if you misjudge the reality on the ground, and then convey that misjudgement to him, you are not doing him any favors.

For example, with [faculty member] and [faculty member] out of the room, [the president] may have been led to expect that addressing these concerns would have the effect of demonstrating their lack of broad support, and that validations of the concerns would be balanced by voices in his defense. Instead, he was hit left, right, front, back, and center by deep expressions of concern that essentially lent credibility to [former employee's public and critical] letter and to the entire process that has been underway for more than a year now.

I do want to keep the lines of communication open, and would like to hear your thoughts.[/I]

So, the letter implied, but did not assert, that she might be passing sensitive e-mail correspondence among faculty to our president. She promptly delivered my email to our HR department, claiming that it was "threatening." Nothing in the letter remotely implies any kind of threat. She has not lodged a formal complaint, but the very idea that she would turn this in to HR, and that HR would not summarily rebuff her out of hand, is upsetting to me.

Can I prevent this from being entered in my permanent file? What are my rights?


Pretty much the whole letter stated she was a "tattletale or brown noser" Yes it could be taken the way it was taken. Based on the letter why would you even consider sending it? See parts on bold I felt the strongest as threats.
 
The fact that it was done after hours and from personal account to personal account does not matter in the slightest. It was connected with work and it could conceivably affect your work relationships.

Surprisingly enough, CA is not one of the states where you have a guaranteed right to place a rebuttal in your file.
 
Insult is not same as threat

There is no hint of a "threat" in anything you highlighted. These sections could be taken as an accusation or insult (brown-noser), but in every case those comments are qualified, and I never made a direct assertion.

Be that as it may, there is a huge difference between an insult and a threat. It's my understanding that I have a perfect right to call my co-worker a "brown-noser" or "tattle-tale" if that is in fact what I think he/she is. I don't have a right to threaten or harass a co-worker (for example, if this were a pattern of insults rather than an isolated incident).
 
The first text you blocked is my best honest opinion, and I very definitely DID have second thoughts when I saw her leave the president's office. The second text you blocked is a theoretical statement, but also absolutely true.

Are you saying that I don't have the right to state the honest truth to my co-worker?
 
What you do not have is the right to state your opinion with no consequences.

Whether you intended it as a threat or not, both Jacksgal and I can see a perceived threat. And as Jacksgirl also said, while you may have the right to state your opinion, your employer has the right to terminate you for it.

You can argue with us all you like. You can insist that there was no threat all you like. It will not change the fact that others have seen and can see a potential threat; that just because you did not intend one does not mean that the report was false if the other person saw it differently than you intended; and that you can legally be disciplined up to and including termination if your employer sees fit.
 
At-Will vs. Contract Faculty

I think I see where the two of you are coming from. You assume that we are at-will employees. The staff are, which is why they have sought help from the faculty. Faculty are not. We can only be fired for reasons specified in our handbook, and we have access to a grievance process.

Unlike corporate Stasi-Land, in the academy we retain a modicum of free speech and are not fired just because of what someone THINKS we said or because we are preceived to be "trouble-makers." We can only be fired for cause.

Now, back to reality check: Show me the threat. Give me the sentence and the "reasonable" interpretation whereby a threat is discerned.
 
We both stated we saw potential for someone taking your contact as a threat. If you choose to disagree that is fine. If you feel any action taken by your employer is a violation of your contract then take your contract to an Attorney
 
FYI Two Legal Opinions

Two legal opinions on what I take to be the essential question (you may disagree):

Me: Do you see anything in my letter to her that could support her claim that
my message was improper and threatening?

Lawyer One: No.

Lawyer Two: Your letter is certainly not threatening

So, could you move beyond generalities, since specifics would be required in any attempt to establish "cause" for termination.

Where is the threat, and what specifically is threatened?
 
I make it a point not to respond further when a poster indicates that they have consulted an attorney. I don't believe it would be appropriate.

You've already been told what we see as a potential threat. Since you choose not to believe us, there is no more to be said.
 
You have taken the wise move to hire seek legal advice from an Attorney. All your legal advice should come from him or her. You have no further use of us
 
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