Tonight's flamebait debate: accidental sexual harrasment

Completely hypothetical situation designed to start a big argument. Here we go.

Say some guy at work typed up some really perverted email to a female co-worker, and saved a draft of it, and then the help desk guy came up behind him saying he has to install a patch on his computer, so he minimizes the email and steps away from his computer, and then while the help desk guy is working on his computer the guy decides that it was a bad idea to type up the email and decides to not send it, but when he gets back to his computer he finds that the help desk guy accidentally hit the "send" button and it's been sent.

The question is: should the guy still get fired, or the help desk guy, or both.

And burn the woman too. She's probably a witch.

The help desk guy will just plead ignorance, and nobody will believe that the other guy didn't mean to send it.

:evilgrin:

Member, BOfH Local 271

But perverted email writer guy should certainly know better than to do something like that at work using a company email address.

Like you probably couldn't fire him for sexual harrasment, but for using the computer to type the thing up.

He never had any intent of creating a threatening environment.

The other guy shouldn't necessarily get fired, but he should have some kind of disciplinary action for even spending the time to write a harassing letter at work. He decided against sending it, but at some point he did intend to send a harassing letter.

JMO but interesting scenario :)

I think that worker guy should know better than to waste company time being a pervert, but even if he didn't, saving a draft of the email would have enabled him to close the window so it wouldn't be sent.

Wht the author of the e-mail should do is go straight to the female co-worker, explain that the help desk guy sent the e-mail he was drafting say... to his girlfriend or something. (Yes- lie through your teeth I say - your conscience prevailed but was usurped.)
Then ask her to delete it without reading it, but if she cant' help herself and HAS to read it not to hold it against him.

Then kill the help desk guy and bury him in the garden out back.

Now if she reads it and invites him to dinner....