Crazy Workplace Mistakes: Can They Be Fixed?

Oops, Didn't Mean to CC You on That

It's old news that gossiping about co-workers or sending suggestive missives via e-mail on company time and equipment is asking for trouble. Either your message about how hideous the boss' outfit is gets intercepted by Big Brother or you accidentally cc the big cheese herself.

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One woman I spoke to in New York (let's call her "Leslie") witnessed this carbon copy catastrophe while working as controller at the corporate headquarters of a retail chain.

"The company was run so poorly that any antics were tolerated," Leslie said. "It became custom for [my team] to randomly jump on each other's computer and send an e-mail to another employee within their circle."

"All is fun and games until one day, one woman sent an e-mail from a male employee to another employee that said something sexual. When she went to cc the rest of their circle, she erroneously cc'd the COO of the company."

Not surprisingly, HR was called to the scene and the errant e-mailer lost her job.

I realize lots of you are bored out of your skull at work. But imagine how bored you'll be watching eight hours of Court TV after collecting your pink slip.

When it comes to sending smutty, back-stabbing or otherwise inappropriate e-mails at work (not to mention hijacking a colleague's inbox), it can be tough to recover. Better to save any nasty opinions and not-safe-for-work humor for when you're off line and off work.