What are my rights?

[cheezydemon]

It was brought to my attention that MY job was being advertised on careerbuilder.com.

I am not in a really big company. I e-mailed my boss and blind copied a VP asking what was going on.

My boss said it was an error, let's drop it.

Cool!

Next day, my boss calls me and is so pissed that I blind copied the VP on it.

Now I am afraid he will fire me.

To copy a VP was standard procedure at my old company. Did the VP breach confidentiality laws or something?

 

[Soulive]

He's probably pissed because he views it as you going over his head. Most employment today is "at will", so they can fire you just as easily as you can quit...

 

[brewt00l]

Did the VP breach confidentiality laws or something?

I am not aware of any legal ramification or obligation on the part of the recipient of a blind copy email.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

Ya, never leave a trail. 'Blind cc:' the VP in person. At least you can deny it later

 

[blacklab]

I would talk to an employment attorney just to cover your bases.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

To copy a VP was standard procedure at my old company. Did the VP breach confidentiality laws or something?

The VP may not have even had anything to do with it. One quick search in Exchange System Manager and 5 seconds later all recipients of a message are displayed. If he's an IT guy he could have done it himself, or asked IT to do it for him.

Most companies have policies in place that clearly inform all employees that all information on their PC's, all contents of their inbox, and most all other information, is the sole property of the company and that employees should have little or no expectation of privacy. At least I have such policies in place.

If your company has such a policy in place and that policy has been clearly communicated to all employees, (I update policies and send them out every 2 years - requiring all employees to agree to the policy terms before they will be permitted to use a company PC or have access to any company data) there's absolutely nothing that you can do about this.

 

[rdwj]

Sounds like you should update your resume - just in case

 

[cheezydemon]

Yeah thanks. He called again and it was OK.

I guess I thought my old company was obeying a law of some sort, I guess they were just a great company to work for.

 

[Evan!]

Yeah thanks. He called again and it was OK.

I guess I thought my old company was obeying a law of some sort, I guess they were just a great company to work for.

Glad your job's okay, man. That's always nerve-racking. Yeah, I mean, unless it's a government agency or a gov't subcontractor under quasi-gov't control, I can't imagine there's any "laws" regarding such internal structural/procedural actions.

 

[cheezydemon]

Right on. Good to know.

 

[beergears]

The 'update your resume" suggestion still stands, IMO

Was a reasonable explanation was given for looking for a candidate with your skills, other than "error"..?

 

[Beerrific]

It is possible that your boss screwed up and was pissed that the VP found out and was taking it out on you. Anyway, glad to hear everything worked out. Just glad you didn;t do anything crazy like this woman: http://www.news4jax.com/news/15121838/detail.html

 

[cheezydemon]

Yeah lol. I just realized my boss R a frigging J-hawks fan. That is probably what he is really pissed about.

 

[Soulive]

The 'update your resume" suggestion still stands, IMO

Was a reasonable explanation was given for looking for a candidate with your skills, other than "error"..?

+1...take it from me, you should always have an updated resume going. You should also always be keeping in touch with other industry people. Networking = best way to stay employed...

 

[abracadabra]

It's one thing to CC: a bosses superior it's quite another to Blind CC: him.

I certainly understand why your boss was upset. What you did looks sneaky at best and underhanded at worst.

Sounds to me like you need a quick lesson in email etiquette.

Plus you were on careerbuilder yourself so I looks like you where looking for another job too.

Your boss is going to consider you untrustwothty at this point. I'd update my resume if I were you.

That's a tough lesson to learn.

I hope for your sake that your boss was being sincere when he said everything was OK. But I seriouly doubt it.

 

[cheezydemon]

It's one thing to CC: a bosses superior it's quite another to Blind CC: him.

I certainly understand why your boss was upset. What you did looks sneaky at best and underhanded at worst.

Sounds to me like you need a quick lesson in email etiquette.

Plus you were on careerbuilder yourself so I looks like you where looking for another job too.

Your boss is going to consider you untrustwothty at this point. I'd update my resume if I were you.

That's a tough lesson to learn.

I hope for your sake that your boss was being sincere when he said everything was OK. But I seriouly doubt it.

He knows I only looked on career builder after someone called about the job. Also, when he fills out these surveys to see which political candidate he most matches up with, Adolph Hitler is who comes up.

I thought I might need the intervention of a non-nazi, and I also thought my job was already gone.

Point taken though.

 

[the_bird]

Your job is "OK" unless/until a good candidate walks through that door. He's placating you in case he can't find someone else.

Update the resume.

 

[abracadabra]

He knows I only looked on career builder after someone called about the job. .

That may be true I don't know the details of the situation or he may think that's just the story you've told him whether or not he really believes it is another matter.

I'm not trying to scare or dishearten you. Just keep your eyes open. Sounds like you're in a tough spot.

Best wishes

 

[cheezydemon]

I appreciate it! I will let you know if it goes any further.