Screeds

[msmemory_archive]

How do you respond to a coworker who forwards a political rant full of hate and fear, intended to deter you from voting for a particular candidate? I told him "This is not appropriate for interoffice mail," and I don't want to get dragged into a protracted argument of refuting his points. He and I do not share an outlook at all. I don't want to rat him out to Human Resources, because I suspect he's already in danger of being let go, and other than disagreeing with him politically I have no problem with him as a coworker.

Comments

[dlevey.livejournal.com]

Ah, is this the "Obama is a radical Muslim in disguise" message? You can add to the "this is inappropriate" the following: "I don't want to send this off to human resources, so please stop it now. This is something that can get you, and the company, in serious legal trouble. If HR hears about this, they'll need to take action, and just because I haven't said anything this time doesn't mean that someone else won't."

[johno.livejournal.com]

I was the stuckee at my $employer for this job in general.

That was the tact I took.

1) Did you know you were sending to a large number of folks.
2) Did you realize this violates company policy?
3) I'm not reporting you, but in the future I may have to.

[jimpage363.livejournal.com]

It sounds like you have already handled it in a reasonable and mature fashion. If he does it again, though, HR might have to become involved. Otherwise, it's going to be a LONG 10 months for you, getting that kind of stuff in your email until the election.

[antoniseb.livejournal.com]

I agree with the above. You've probably already done as much as you should on this one.

[kimbari.livejournal.com]

YOUR response was perfect. My response would've been to take him out back and beat the shit out of him.

Now if we only had a wheelbarrow, that would be something.

[herooftheage.livejournal.com]

other than disagreeing with him politically I have no problem with him as a coworker.

Apparently not quite true - you also don't like his emailing policy. That might well be nitpicking on my part, but I'd hate not to list all of the considerations, and have one of them turn out to be important.

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

Agree with the previous posters.

[ramblingmom.livejournal.com]

When I first read this I figured I'd likely ignore it if I were you. Perhaps there has been something in your history that makes him feel comfortable discussing politics with you. After reading the comments I had a second thought and IF this was the "Obama radical muslim" crapola, then I'd at least send the snopes.com response.

So I guess if he's spouting political opinions that you disagree with then you can ignore if (unless you want to make a fuss - inappropriate use of email and all) but if he's spreading malicious lies, then you might consider correcting him. (For all the good it might do -- my SIL sends me no end of terribly important information that I need to know -- and when I send her the links to snopes.com I don't believe she ever sends a message to all the people she's forwarded the crap to saying "Uh I was wrong"

[peregrinning.livejournal.com]

I received the "Obama is a Radical Muslim" letter (which now includes a statement that "Snopes.com verifies that this letter is true") today, from a co-worker whose company I enjoy but whose views are often counter to my own. Alas, I took the bait, and responded to the full list that they should loook at the Snopes.com article they were citing, as it debunked the letter.

The sender responded that they sent it because they believed it.

Other co-workers reminded me that I shouldn't discuss politics in company e-mail.

Others have made excellent recommendations, worth pursuing.

My co-workers told me what they do, and I recommend it as an alternative: delete (without reading) anything from this person that looks like it will be political. Just let it go.

[bubbette.livejournal.com]

Delete. Delete delete delete. Same thing I'm doing with EK right now.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

Damn. Someone asked a question I hoped you would be able to answer.

[bubbette.livejournal.com]

You can ask me offline if you wish, but I will not be drug into that mess on EK.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

I'll call you tomorrow. We haven't chatted in a while.

[bubbette.livejournal.com]

I'll be around.

[metageek.livejournal.com]

You might mention to HR that there's someone who has been doing this, and ask them to send out a reminder of company policy. You don't have to tell them who it is.

At one job I had, 12-15 years ago, there was a VP of Something who kept sending out biblical quotes to the entire company. I wanted to tell him to stop, but it wasn't worth the chance of reprisals. So, instead, I hacked up a filtering system for my mailer, on company time, and set it to delete his quotes.

(I suppose it says a lot about the times that I had a mailer that didn't have a filter system to begin with.)

[baron-steffan.livejournal.com]

Wow. Talk about tripping over a bucketful of Jungian Synchronicity. Guess what I was doing immediately before reading your message?

Completing my training assessment for CVS on "What Supervisors Need to Know About Harassment". I'm not kidding.

CVS's "no-tolerance" policy, of course, would require reporting of any harassment in the workplace. And it appears that harassment regarding political activity or affiliation is covered (at least in RI).

But what would I actually do in this case? I'd confront him, as you did. My next move, I think, would be contingent on his response. If he showed evidence that he "got it", that he realized he'd screwed up and wasn't going to do it again, and didn't do it again, then...yeah, I'd probably leave it at that and consider the matter solved. If not...I'd report him. And that "if not" includes continuing to press his political views during your conversation; he has to understand that that is not the topic you're discussing.

[umbran.livejournal.com]

For a first offense? Delete and forget. Anyone can slip up.

For a second offense - a stern warning. For a third or later offense after said warning - it is a habit and ought to be reported to whatever power is appropriate in your organization.

[fibro-witch.livejournal.com]

From my short time dealing with HR. Print out a copy of the email, make sure to get every email address he sent it out to. Put it in an envelope and mail it to yourself. Say nothing to him right now, except what you have. If you suspect he is close to being let go, than several people have issues with him. Hang on to the letter, and if you do find yourself having a problem with him about politics, or anything else for that matter, then bring the letter to HR.

[msmemory.livejournal.com]

Alas, he was clever enough to use BCC: on all the recipients. I asked someone else in my department, to whom this guy has sent humor stuff, and she did also get a copy of the rant.

The reason I think he might be endangered is that we have a posting on our job board for what is essentially his present position. Since he doesn't seem the type to be promoted to managing his group, it sounds like he's being nudged out.

HR would pitch an enormous hissy if he sent this to our whole building (which he may or may not have done). I've heard of people being reprimanded for posting charity fundraiser (walk-a-thon) flyers to All Employees.

[fibro-witch.livejournal.com]

I expect he did not realize that any programmer could find out not only who he sent it to, but where he got it from.

Do you have an idea how many people he sent it to?


OH - before I forget, test came back yesterday, not a sign of a single growth, not a 1, 2 or 3. Next test is in April. A few steps of a happy dance.