Busted!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:13pm

As the headline says "your Privacy is an illusion!"

"Kevin Colvin, an intern at Anglo Irish Bank's North American arm, was busted when he told his manager, Paul Davis, that he'd miss work due to what colleagues took to be a "family emergency". Davis turned up the photo above, freshly posted to Facebook from the Halloween party Colvin apparently missed work to attend, and attached it to his reply, copying the rest of the office as he did it."

In the photo, Kevin is dressed as a fairy- wand in one hand, beer in the other.
please to enjoy....

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:22pm

Well, in principle, I agree that he was stupid, and that "something came up at home" is misleading, but I don't know.

Also, I'm not sure the boss should have been sending that out to everyone, the picture or the email.

I don't think anyone is right here, actually.

[Calvin]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:25pm

Yes -- and do you think he would have bcc'd the entire office if the guy had dressed up like Harry Potter instead of a fairy?

I was always told that my personal days were just that -- personal days, and no one was allowed to ask or investigate why I was taking them.

Of course, this dude was just an intern, so he probably isn't getting paid, anyway.

[robbiej]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:29pm

A couple of years ago, I needed to take a personal day to tech a show I was doing at night. A few days later, my boss asked me to do some hideously awful personal work for him. He said that since he lets me take off for tech, I should be willing to scratch his back, as it were. I informed him that my personal days were just that, and that he had no place to dictate how I might use them. I informed him it was highly improper of him to use that as an excuse to get me to do personal work for him. The next day, I received a delightful bottle of C****nay.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:29pm

I used to work at a place that would fire people if they found out a sick day was taken when someone wasn't sick. I now work somewhere where all of our days are just days and can be used for sick, vacation, or personal days.

Fire the guy all you want, I guess, but the emailing the entire company (and now, by extension, the world) just doesn't sit right with me. Not just because he was in a fairy costume, but because it's really no one else at the compnay's business when you lose your job, anyway. Talk about a privacy violation.
Updated On: 11/13/07 at 03:29 PM

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:31pm

"Something suddenly came up" didnt work for Marsha and it wont work for you! When will people ever learn from tv?!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:32pm

Clearly this kid was being watched by the company, since someone was checking his facebook and he was busted the next day. Maybe it's cause he was a terrible employee. Maybe it's just because he's the kind of guy who dresses a fairy for Halloween.

Edited because I looked at the time stamp wrong on the email. Updated On: 11/13/07 at 03:32 PM

[Calvin]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:34pm

Yes -- and now this manager has made a personnel issue a very public matter. A HUGE corporate no-no. Even if a CEO gets canned, a company usually won't tell you exactly why. Mr. Davis had better be worried about his job, now.

But did this guy even get fired? Does it matter? I don't profess to know U.S. workplace privacy laws that well (except in terms of medical issues), but I do know they generally suck compared with Europe.

edited because I got the guy's title wrong Updated On: 11/13/07 at 03:34 PM

[mauriposa]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:35pm

Semi-fresh from undergrad myself, I have a ton of stories like this about students getting themselves in trouble through facebook. My favorite part about this story, though, (despite the boundary-crossing involved with sharing the story with the whole world) is the "Nice wand." So subtle.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:35pm

Clear cut case of homophobia!!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:38pm

I think in most places, interns don't have the same sick leave and personal day policies as full-time employees. He should have given more notice than the night before to say he was going to be gone for days on end. Had he done that, I doubt the boss would have looked into it further. If you read the email below the picture, another employee that received it implied that this person has taken many sick days off recently, so it was only a matter of time before someone in charge wondered what was up.

I don't think the boss was right to email it to everyone, but since I'm sure this kids' parents will sue, I'll cut him some slack.

Updated On: 11/13/07 at 03:38 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:39pm

Clear cut case of homophobia!!

I'm not saying that. Maybe he's the butchest guy in the world. It's just a bad situation all around.




Updated On: 11/13/07 at 03:39 PM

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:40pm

Agreed. But for Chrissakes, he's an intern! Ease up, already!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:42pm

I think he should sue.

I'm not a lawyer, but I think that, no matter what the reason for firing, employers are not allowed to use company email to publicly humiliate an employee.

I hope the kid contacts Lambda Legal.

Updated On: 11/13/07 at 03:42 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:44pm

So, because he's an intern he deserves to be humiliated publicly within the the company that fired him, not to mention globally now that this has hit the internet?

[artscallion]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:45pm

Who you are on facebook is who you are in real life.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:46pm

No, Phyll. I mean THEY should ease up.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:46pm

I just don't know why people don't put in for days off- vacation, personal time, floating holidays-in advance. When you "call in sick" at the last minute (And on E-Mail no less) it's just asking for trouble.

And an internship, paid or unpaid, is basically an extended job interview. I wouldn't hire this guy on permanently. No way. Even if he did have a nice wand.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:46pm

And that is the moral of the story.

But what you DO with what you find on Facebook is also who you are in real life, so in this case the person who sent the photo to everyone in the company is a ****head.

[Calvin]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:49pm

I'm pretty sure you're right, PJ. Even if you're a total dud at your job, a company is limited in what they can say about you should, say, a prospective employer call to verify you had worked there.

Of course -- are we sure this really happened and isn't the latest fun email forward?

eta: Oh, and Joe, I don't think anyone's saying the kid isn't an idiot. But it's also pretty clear the manager probably violated company policy if not the law. Updated On: 11/13/07 at 03:49 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:50pm

Mea culpa, Borstalboy. I thought you were talking to me!

And Joe, it's NOT that they fired the guy. I've seen people fired for less. It's the companywide email - that was blind copied.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:51pm

So, lets recap:


The Intern: Immature and not too sly.

The Company: Probably not worth it.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:55pm

Oh yeah- the guy who forwarded the email & pic is way out of line. But man, how hard would you have laughed if you worked there and got that email? I mean both the fairy & the boss are total wands, if you get my drift.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:55pm

The Company: Probably not worth it.

Undoubtedly.




DealBreaker - Is it true?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 4:01pm

how hard would you have laughed if you worked there and got that email?

Again, this is just me, but I wouldn't have laughed at all. I've worked for two different companies that really had nerve in the way they pried into personal lives of their employees. If this happened at my company I'd be looking for another job. I'd worry that any violation I committed - whether I was realizing it or not - might be held up for the entire company to see.

It doesn't surprise me this is a bank, though. My experience has shown me that financial companies really don't think highly of the people who do the grunt work.


Updated On: 11/13/07 at 04:01 PM