Q: Last week I picked up the phone on my co-worker’s desk when it rang. I was not snooping, just trying to help her out. The caller thought I was my co-worker since we have similar voices. He started talking about how he had information about her he’d release unless she “played ball.” I was so shocked I didn’t stop him.
When my co-worker returned from lunch, I told her what I’d heard. She got so angry she scared me, but said the caller was her brother who kept trying to blackmail her. She said he got her into a situation five years ago but she’s the one who went to jail. She said he avoided jail time with a phony alibi and because she had covered for him, as they’d promised to cover for each other.
Then she started crying and begged me not to tell anyone. She said she’d turned her life around and asked, “Do you want to be responsible for making me lose this job?” I shook my head no.
That night I looked her up on CourtView and learned she’s had multiple arrests and small claims issues. I went to my supervisor and asked if I could talk to her confidentially. She answered, “Of course, you can always come to me.” I told her what I knew.
The next day when I got to my desk, my co-worker gave me a dirty look and hissed at me, “You better watch your back.” I got up and I went to my supervisor because I knew something was wrong. She said that she believed in giving everyone a second chance and didn’t know how to raise the issue with my co-worker without saying where she’d learned the information. I then learned my supervisor had told my co-worker everything, including my research on CourtView.
When I returned to my work station, I tried to focus on work, but my co-worker hissed at me, saying, “If I lose my job, it’s on you.” I feel unsafe, but if I go to my supervisor, this will be a bigger mess.
[Nosing into co-workers’ backgrounds, and what to do when star employees start slacking]
A: You have and every employee have the right to a safe workplace, given to you by Congress when it passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970. Your supervisor compromised your right by her handling of this situation. Feel free to take this column with you, along with the OSHA pamphlet you can find at https://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3021.pdf and visit your supervisor’s manager or whoever handles HR in your company.
When an employee asks a supervisor, “Can I tell you this in confidence?”, the supervisor should respond, “As long as it’s not a legal matter.” This qualification allows the supervisor to contact HR or a senior manager if the employee alleges harassment or discrimination.
When the supervisor says yes to a confidentiality request, the supervisor needs to keep what the employee says confidential or go back to the employee and say, “To resolve this, I’ll need to directly involve what you’ve told me.” There are many ways a supervisor can maintain an employee’s confidentiality. For example, if one employee reports a co-worker makes excess personal phone calls, the supervisor can “spot check” the situation and confront the problem from the supervisor’s direct observation.
I agree with your supervisor in giving someone who deserves a chance a fresh start. Your co-worker, however, lied to the court at the time of the incident and now casts you as the bad guy. Further, if your co-worker caves to blackmail, she might put your company or your fellow co-workers’ belongings at risk.
Your company’s senior management can assess whether your co-worker’s explanation of the phone call seems legitimate and give her a chance to prove herself. If she has access to financial information or her co-workers’ or customers’ private information, they need to decide how to protect that information. Part of this second chance needs to include your co-worker’s genuine understanding that by casting you as the bad guy, she demonstrates she still has problems.
Finally, the supervisors in your company need a briefing in when and how to keep confidentiality, and what problems they need to escalate to senior management, and your company needs to protect you. If you don’t feel you can talk to a senior manager or if this mess grows bigger, please give me a call.