Red faces as email to boyfriend is seen by thousands -

The Telegraph.co.uk ^ | March 10, 2004 | Roya Nikka

[UnklGene]

Red faces as email to boyfriend is seen by thousands -

By Roya Nikkhah - 10/03/2004

Sharon Dyson's email to her boyfriend began innocently enough, with details of a Sunday afternoon spent shopping during a business trip in Australia and a gentle reminder that he should pick her up from the airport.

But what followed the small talk - some sexual banter and a disparaging remark about her employer's clients - could cost Miss Dyson her job after it was seen by thousands of strangers.

Miss Dyson, a student careers adviser, thought she was sending a private email to Alex Hewson, her boyfriend. By accidentally clicking on the "reply all" command, however, she distributed it to everyone on his original recipient list.

The message went to 30 friends of Mr Hewson, a PR executive with the firm Carat International. Many then forwarded it to their friends.

In the email, which has now been circulated throughout the City, Miss Dyson wrote: "My sunburn on my back is sore and I need you to rub some moisturiser in for me. We'll have to get some massage oil too."

But it was the next sentence that infuriated her employers, Hobsons, so much that she now faces disciplinary action: "I have to write a sucky 'Thank you' email to clients now, w*nk, w*nk."

Hobsons refused to say yesterday if Miss Dyson had been dismissed. She was not at work.

"We have staffing procedures in place to ensure that, if anything of this nature occurs, we deal with it appropriately," a spokesman said. "It is against company policy to send emails of an obscene nature.

"This is a private and personal embarrassment for her but I want to stress that the email represented Sharon's personal thoughts and not those of the rest of our staff."

At his office in Holborn, London, Mr Hewson said the incident was "embarrassing".

[UnklGene]

Almost a Monty Python, w*nk, w*nk!

[Redcoat LI]

Don't write when you can speak,don't speak when you can nod,don't nod when you can wink.

[GeronL]

what was the obscene part?

[PureSolace]

I see no harm done... So the woman was gonna do part of her job she wasn't too fond of and she's in love... Who cares? She shouldn't lose her job... everyone has things about their job they don't like. I think her company should turn a blind eye in this situation, the embarrasment is enough for her. Man, I wish I ran things. Benevolence and respect, especially when an honest goofup like this happens. :) Cyaz!

[Luke Skyfreeper]

"This is a private and personal embarrassment for her but I want to stress that the email represented Sharon's personal thoughts and not those of the rest of our staff."

Bwaaahaaahaahaahaa!

Really? :-)

[Imal]

Ahh, takes me back to my old sysadmin days: people running into my office to beg me to "take back" an email they wish they hadn't sent.

Of course, seeing as I was usually given notice of such need long after the few millisecond window wherein one could theoretically zap a message out of the delivery queue before it was sent, there was nothing I could do but offer my empathetic shoulder and share their misery.

Every now and then, someone would do the "Reply All" trick and not look at the To: or Cc: line before sending.

Once a V.P. did that, and thought his casual mention of a soon-to-be-let-go employee's soon-to-be-let-go status was sent in confidence. Instead, the entire engineering department found out about the hapless employee's fate well in advance.

On another occasion reminiscent if this one, one of the male engineers accidentally let loose a racy message intended for one of the female engineers. If anyone didn't know they were a pair before that incident, I can assure you all doubt was thenceforth erased.

If I recall correctly, they broke up not too long after that...

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

"what was the obscene part?"

Her "w*nk" is meant to imply "wank". Meaning she had to go and ...handle the customers, shall we say.

[Michael Barnes]

"Don't wink when a nooner is assured"

[RatSlayer]

Well, if those two quotes were the worst of it, I wouldn't terminate an otherwise good employee over that email.

They would, however, get reprimanded and moved to the bottom of the pay raise list for one cycle.

If this was on top of doing a bad job, I'd can them.

[RatSlayer]

Ah "wank". Now that makes more sense. I should have realized that was "wank" not "wink".

I'd still probably so the same thing that I previously posted for a good worker. Plus move her off of any accounts where the customer was no longer comfortable working with her.

Once again, I'd can a bad worker for this.

[SkyPilot]

BFD - I have seen much worse.

[Kirkwood]

Isn't this an urban legend? I seem to recall first reading this a few years ago.

[lelio]

BFD - I have seen much worse.

Well I've done worse! ;)

[Bobby777]

I never was a fan of WordPerfect word processor software, but WordPerfect Office would let you pull back an errant email ... kinda cool ...

[taxesareforever]

Hard to believe an employee isn't happy with her employer. I thought everyone loved their bosses.

[RonHolzwarth]

There have been times that I have been horrified at what just might have happened if I had sent an email to the wrong person, or worse, sent it to "all"!

Once I got a "real sweet email" from some guy I didn't know, never heard of him, or the woman he thought he was sending it to!

I have no idea how or where he got my address! It was so personal, and to a woman he was having an affair with, apparently!

I'd love to post it all here, but that might not be to wise!

WOW! When I emailed him back, I bet his face was RED!!!

[Charles Henrickson]

By accidentally clicking on the "reply all" command, however, she distributed it to everyone on his original recipient list.

She needs tons click "co-ordinating."

[jpsb]

Bump!