Anoymous email to my work

JReacher1

Undervalued wrote: »

And you have proof of that?

How would he? Did you miss the bit about the email being anonymous?

OP you may be able to trace the IP address of the email from the header. I would ask you company to ask the IT department to check for you.

sangie595

JReacher1 wrote: »

How would he? Did you miss the bit about the email being anonymous?

OP you may be able to trace the IP address of the email from the header. I would ask you company to ask the IT department to check for you.

And why would the IT department breach all protocols by providing an individual with information that they have no legal right to access? And what possible use would the information be anyway? It doesn't matter who it is from - and an IP address doesn't prove who wrote an email - it only matters what the employer thinks, and they've said that there isn't a problem with the OP or their work, and have, to protect both themselves and the OP, asked for occupational health to check things out.

But let's, for one minute, suppose that the OP gets some form of concrete proof that this was their ex who sent it. So what? The employer would be on very dodgy grounds dismissing someone over this - just because someone appears to not have a drinking problem, or denies it, doesn't mean that they don't have one! There's no proof it's a lie, and it's unlikely that there would ever be such proof. Even if the OP could afford the court deposit for defamation, they'd be foolish to attempt a court case - there's no evidence of any actual damage to the person, and courts take a dim view of being dragged into stupid squabbles.

People have squabbles. It doesn't need an ex for that to happen. Making more of it than it is simply adds fuel to the fire. Before you know it it's grievances, counter grievances and more, and both of them are likely to end up with warnings or dismissal! 74jax has the right of it - ignore and move on.

unforeseen

If the IT department have any sense then they should refuse any such request unless it is part of a formal investigation. And then only release the info to the person investigating.

OP has absolutely no right to ask the IT dept for this info.

motorguy

James101ondon wrote: »

Hello ,
I was looking for some advice regarding a situation that has arisen. I was called in to she HR last week and was told that they had received a anoymous email, saying that i have a drinking problem.
They will not tell me anything more. I asked for the details of the email , date of when it was sent and the email address all to which they said no. I asked if they were concerned about the content of the email and if my conduct at work had ever been a cause of concern which they said no.
What makes it worse is i dont have a drinking problem and hardly ever do drink.
I believe i know who sent the email but cant do anything about it.
They have referred me to occupational health for some reason.
Can anybody give me any advise where i stand legally on this , do my work have to tell me the content of the email and could i take this matter futher I.E slander or deformation of character.
Any help would be appreciated

Did they give any details of the specific "drink problem"?

For example, that you are constantly drunk? Or are they saying when you drink you become aggressive and abuse, for example?

Both are drink problems.

JReacher1

unforeseen wrote: »

If the IT department have any sense then they should refuse any such request unless it is part of a formal investigation. And then only release the info to the person investigating.

OP has absolutely no right to ask the IT dept for this info.

Of course they have the right to ask. A malicious unfounded anonymous complaint has been submitted about the OP and if the IP address proved it came from the work computer of his ex partner then that would be a disciplinary offence for his ex.

JReacher1

sangie595 wrote: »

And why would the IT department breach all protocols by providing an individual with information that they have no legal right to access? And what possible use would the information be anyway? It doesn't matter who it is from - and an IP address doesn't prove who wrote an email - it only matters what the employer thinks, and they've said that there isn't a problem with the OP or their work, and have, to protect both themselves and the OP, asked for occupational health to check things out.

But let's, for one minute, suppose that the OP gets some form of concrete proof that this was their ex who sent it. So what? The employer would be on very dodgy grounds dismissing someone over this - just because someone appears to not have a drinking problem, or denies it, doesn't mean that they don't have one! There's no proof it's a lie, and it's unlikely that there would ever be such proof. Even if the OP could afford the court deposit for defamation, they'd be foolish to attempt a court case - there's no evidence of any actual damage to the person, and courts take a dim view of being dragged into stupid squabbles.

People have squabbles. It doesn't need an ex for that to happen. Making more of it than it is simply adds fuel to the fire. Before you know it it's grievances, counter grievances and more, and both of them are likely to end up with warnings or dismissal! 74jax has the right of it - ignore and move on.

Of course it matters who the complaint is from. If the IP address proves that the malicious email was sent from the work computer of his ex partner then that could be grounds for a disciplinary.

Recently a female member of my team received an anonymous email which was of a sexual nature. The idiot who sent it used his work computer and we got his IP address from his header. He was sacked for gross misconduct.

unforeseen

JReacher1 wrote: »

Of course they have the right to ask. A malicious unfounded anonymous complaint has been submitted about the OP and if the IP address proved it came from the work computer of his ex partner then that would be a disciplinary offence for his ex.

And releasing that information to the OP would be a disciplinary offence for the IT engineer involved. You are also expecting the engineer to not only supply the IP address but also provide the machine information and also who was logged on at the time.

Handing out that information is bordering on gross misconduct for the engineer. No information from the system should ever be passed to another party without authority. If necessary HR may request that information but not the OP.

TBH HR already have that info because the email was sent to them.

unforeseen

JReacher1 wrote: »

Of course it matters who the complaint is from. If the IP address proves that the malicious email was sent from the work computer of his ex partner then that could be grounds for a disciplinary.

Recently a female member of my team received an anonymous email which was of a sexual nature. The idiot who sent it used his work computer and we got his IP address from his header. He was sacked for gross misconduct.

No doubt you got the ip address from the mail header while the message was still on the female's pc. Did the female have to ask the IT guys to look on the servers for the info? I'm guessing the info was part of a formal investigation?

FBaby

Do you work with vulnerable people?

sangie595

JReacher1 wrote: »

Of course it matters who the complaint is from. If the IP address proves that the malicious email was sent from the work computer of his ex partner then that could be grounds for a disciplinary.

Recently a female member of my team received an anonymous email which was of a sexual nature. The idiot who sent it used his work computer and we got his IP address from his header. He was sacked for gross misconduct.

Well, you have no idea whether it was sent from work. And if it was, then the IP address only will tell you that it was sent from the workplace - not who sent it.

If "we" got his details, in the case you mention, then "we" should not have been involved, because it is for the employers to decide how to handle things, not "we".

And it is an allegedly unfounded allegation. Someone who drinks only occasionally can still have a drink problem, if, for example, they beat up their partner every time they drink!

All you are doing here is demonstrating why getting in the middle of personal squabbles is a really bad idea, and why they escalate out of all control so quickly that they so often end badly. Let's say the employer gets some evidence it's the ex. They ask her about it, and she says that beat her up every time he drank, albeit he didn't drink often. So now she's putting in a grievance that she isn't safe because of his conduct. He's got a counter grievance in saying it's a lie. She's got another one in saying .... And before you know it the employer washes their hands of all of it and both of them. Understandably. And what if he's wrong anyway - who should then be disciplined? He's making allegations here based on no evidence - pot, kettle, black?

This is a mountain out of a molehill. But it has the capacity to become a range, and all that requires is for the OP to follow your advice and start a war.