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?
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?