I saw the following blog on yahoo, and it reminded how sensitive the internet can be. I used to date this woman who was fired from fairtax for sending an email titled "asap" to the higher chain of command. http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/148175 WHAT COULD BE MORE ANNOYING THAN THIS? MAYBE IF IT WAS BOLD? AND RED? OK, I can't actually make that text red due to the publishing system I'm on, but it would certainly be annoying, wouldn't it? And if you worked for New Zealand's ProCare Health, it could even get you fired. That's exactly what hapened to Vicki Walker, who was abruptly kicked out of her job for sending "confrontational emails" with text formatted in a variety of red, bold, and all caps fonts. Walker had sent the emails to fellow workers within the company, usually with stern and detailed instructions on how forms should be properly filled out. Someone at ProCare didn't like her approach, suggesting she caused "disharmony in the workplace" and was being too confrontational via email, eventually firing her without warning. Walker, however, got the last laugh. She sued for wrongful termination and won the case, pocketing $17,000 in lost wages and for other unspecified harm caused due to the firing. Quite a predicament. Is it actually possible to be confrontational in an email message? With instructions on how to fill out a form? By all accounts, Walker's emails sound rude and brusque, but did she cross a line? Just how angry would an email have to be in order to merit being fired from her job? I know I've sent a "confrontational" message or two to my co-workers in the past, and I've received more than my fair share of them, I think. I never recall anyone getting fired for it. What do you think? Is it OK to fire someone for misuse of their caps lock button? Feel free to respond in the comments section below. First one to do so in all caps gets fired.
I wouldn't call it 'misuse' of the caps key. Misuse implies unintentional. Maybe 'inappropriate use'. In any case, I doubt the woman was fired because of the capitals or the colors of her fonts. Sounds to me like she was fired for being an a-hole, and the emaisl were simply a tangible manifestation. It is incumbent upon a professional workplace to counsel employees who exhibit unacceptable behavior. So the first time she did it, she should have been corrected by someone in authority over her. Sounds as though this probably didn't happen, which could be a reason why she won the case. Now if they tell her to stop, and she continues, then you have a case for firing. Or, if perhaps she had been exhibiting other inappropriate behavior, and was corrected on it, and then the email happened, and even though ti may have been the first email of its kind, it could fall under the previously corrected category, and could still warrant termination. However, management needs to document such counseling sessions, so there is a paper trail and a justification if further action is necessary, such as firing. Sounds like this ALSO didn't happen, which could be another reason why she won her case. In any case, I can almost guarantee the real issue wasn't just about typing in all caps.
Same thing I was wondering. You should have went ahead and done it go to get it out of the way. Boat missed sir.
My dad writes everything in ALL CAPS including his handwriting. It is like he is always yelling at me. I type a lot in ALL CAPS because we do that in Accounting.
how did she get the last laugh? so she got some money.. now what? she's lost her job, her name is out there for other companies, she won't get a recommendation.... what do you say when an interviewer asks why you got terminated at your last job? maybe they know name already from the news..
There should be an anti-CAPS LOCK feature in email clients which will automatically un-capitalize text sent in all caps.
I write in all caps. My handwriting is horrible and it's just more legible that way. After I made the decision to start writing that way (around age 16), I discovered my dad wrote that way as well for the exact same reason.
I didn't even have to actually look at the text to know it WAS inflammatory. I just looked at the poster
I write in all caps but that is probably an architectural thing. I heard that it isn't that uncommon for men to write in all caps.
How sensitive of those people to fire someone because of ALL CAPS. No "first warning"? No "caution"? Well, I guess if they did caution her not to do it again, she got what she deserved [fired] for not listening. There is. Microsoft Word has been fixing stupi... I mean, your CapsLock faux pas for you. When used with your email client, it senses you've "shift-capped" the first letter as lower case, and the rest are in caps lock, so it also checks your PC's keyboard and removes the Caps Lock and then it returns you to normal and fixes the word for you. Try it. cAPS Becomes Caps Automatically. That's funny. I EMPHASIZE words in caps or in italics but never do an entire post in all caps. My first post ever in this BBS in the G.A.R.M. was in half-caps and someone nicely asked me to stop "SHOUTING". Also, does this mean that the people who type up the WEATHER ADVISORIES that are typed in all caps are now without a job?
I had a clerk of a court I had a trial in who kept replying to my emails in all caps. I seriously thought she was upset with me. Honestly, looking back on it, I'm pretty sure she had no idea it was communicating that to me.
