The Globe and Mail today (Thursday, Sept. 3rd, 2009) have an interesting tidbit on e-mail rudeness in the SOCIAL STUDIES column on Street fighting, Earth’s calmest spot, e-mail rudeness.
E-mail rudeness
Vicki Walker was forced out of her job as an accountant at a health-care company in Auckland, N.Z., after colleagues complained her e-mails were too “shouty” and confrontational. A tribunal heard that she spread disharmony among her co-workers by sending missives with entire sentences in capital letters. She also behaved “provocatively” by highlighting key phrases in bold or red, according to her employer, ProCare Health. The panel found that, while she had caused friction in her office, her conduct did not amount to grounds for dismissal. Her firm had no e-mail style guide, meaning employees could not be certain about what communications were deemed unacceptable. Ms. Walker was awarded $12,600 and plans to appeal for further compensation. (L6, by Michael Kesterton)
The New Zealand Herald has a story Emails spark woman’s sacking by Rebecca Lewis (Aug 30, 2009) with more detail including the one offensive email submitted as evidence.