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Original poster

Have I dobbed my colleague in wrongly?

44 replies

LivingInLeggingsStill · 01/02/2023 10:36

Hi, I'm looking for advice from some HR bods who might be here. I manage a small team and there are some divisions in it, particularly with 2 team members. Team member A borrowed team member B's laptop. It turns out she didn't log out. Yesterday team member B was slagging off the team to another team member on teams messenger throughout the meeting. After the meeting, team member A came and reported to me what she had seen. When I asked how she came to know it, she admitted that she had left B logged in on her laptop. So it looks like she has been spying on her conversations. It seems she's been logged in for a couple of months. I reported this to my line manager but more to discuss how to help the team be less divided. I naively didn't realise how bad it was that she was logged in and potentially spying for a couple of months. Team member A told me not to tell anyone, but clearly I did and now they want to take it to HR. Have I destroyed someone's career without meaning to? I'm stressing as I didn't mean for that to happen. What do I do?

OP posts:
SavoirFlair · 01/02/2023 10:38

You haven’t destroyed anything. She made a conscious choice to stay logged in.

She should face the consequences of her actions! That’s what working life is about - not back room deals where someone implores someone “not to tell” just because they’re liked or whatever.

She should face the consequences of the data breach and the wilful spying.

Dotjones · 01/02/2023 10:42

It's her own fault and it needs to be reported to HR. You need to address B slagging A off too, but the (much) more serious issue is A knowingly spying on them for so long.

plumduck · 01/02/2023 10:42

B should have logged themselves out. Are they even allowed to share laptops? It's a big no in the organisation I work for. Just let HR sort it out if they are aware of it.

ChicCroissant · 01/02/2023 10:50

Laptop issue is far more serious than the slagging off IMO. B should have logged out but A should have done it for her - there is simply no reason to leave her logged in for so long. Has B been without a laptop for months then?

1000yellowdaisies · 01/02/2023 10:53

A was deceitful to spy on Bs conversations knowingly. B is entitled to speak privately in messenger chat. It was a bit naive to be rude on a works account as i would always assume these things can be monitored if necessary by IT or something but not A. I think A was completely in the wrong here and if HR decided it warrants further action so be it.

AlisonDonut · 01/02/2023 11:13

OP Who told HR? Your manager or one of the team?

wildlifeobserver1 · 01/02/2023 11:23

It is A’s fault for not logging out B from the laptop, and then choosing to leave it logged it and spy on them.
it is entirely person’s A fault.
they know they’re in the wrong and are trying to call your bluff by saying they’re going to go to HR. HR will not tolerate what person A has done.
person B is entitled to private conversations.

cstaff · 01/02/2023 11:55

You haven't destroyed anyone's career - they have done that all by themseves. Really stupid carry on which has back fired on A completely.

I can't believe they had the audacity to report B bitching about them when the reason they found out was a lot worse than a few mean comments on Teams.

Overgrowngrasslady · 01/02/2023 11:58

I’m sorry but you’re the manageR? Are you sure? As you’re behaving like their mate.

A needs to undergo immediate investigation and be suspended. That’s outrageous behaviour on her part. I would think this is dismissible offence and gross misconduct.

purplecorkheart · 01/02/2023 11:59

You can see how serious what person A has done can't you? It really seems like you don't and that is concerning. I would not worry about wrecking person A career, they have done that the second they started spying.

PegSliderskew · 01/02/2023 12:01

You did the right thing. Quite apart from the obvious ethical violations, you really don't want to be in the situation where when it inevitably comes out, A can say 'But I told OP ages ago and she didn't think it was a problem!'

theemmadilemma · 01/02/2023 12:23

I get that it's difficult, but absolutely it had to be reported. It's just a massive no, and a breach of trust, which essentially could be translated to any other part of their work.

I would NEVER stay logged in. I would log and inform the person they had left the device logged in - also a security concern and error.

And YOU should have alerted HR immediately yourself too. Depending on your company you may well get a slap on the wrists too.

In terms of the team, get to the bottom of what the division is about...

Jengnr · 01/02/2023 12:26

I think they’ll both wind up in trouble for data security. B should have logged out and has caused the breach. A should have logged out and reported it straight away. And the spying and the knowingly accessing Bs systems is really bad.

I’d expect them both to get at least a warning over the breach and A to get more on top for how they acted subsequently.

PhillySub · 01/02/2023 12:28

A should have logged B out as soon as she realised what had happened.

WendyAndCIyde · 01/02/2023 12:28

A should have made sure it was logged out. I would expect any professional responsible person to do this. They have proven themselves not to be trusted.

FirstnameSuesecondnamePerb · 01/02/2023 12:29

I would say once you knew, you had no choice but to escalate.
I had similar years ago when a manager had given read only access to his emails to a friendly colleague whilst on hols and didn't recind it. Said colleague came in early to read all his emails then mark them as unread. She then moaned to me that she was being slagged off in an email.
Then, I did a friendly reminder to all managers to check who had access to their emails and take action to make sure the audience was appropriate.
Now, I would escalate.

caramac04 · 01/02/2023 12:36

Both of them have acted unprofessionally.
B should have logged out
A should have logged B out in this case
B should not be slagging off the team, during a meeting
A should not be spying
They both need to be spoken to imo, I would be very unhappy with their behaviour.

Arnaea · 01/02/2023 12:53

Overgrowngrasslady · 01/02/2023 11:58

I’m sorry but you’re the manageR? Are you sure? As you’re behaving like their mate.

A needs to undergo immediate investigation and be suspended. That’s outrageous behaviour on her part. I would think this is dismissible offence and gross misconduct.

This

I voted you were unreasonable as you are simply not taking this as seriously as you need to

You're the manager??

haironmychin · 01/02/2023 13:16

The spying colleague is very much in the shit more than the one moaning in my opinion. I would alert a co-worker straightaway in that situation and log them out/get them to log out.

Pirrin · 01/02/2023 14:05

So A intntionally spied for a long period of time, then they told you about it with the intent of dropping someone else in it. Now they expect you to keep the secret of their unprofessional behavior. You don't need to worry at all.

10HailMarys · 01/02/2023 14:10

A is the problem here.

B shouldn't have been using work time/work's messaging app to slag off colleagues, and a reminder that she needs to keep that sort of thing outside company time and off her work laptop would be useful. But A has been deliberately spying on her B's conversations. A should have immediately logged out of B's account as soon as she realised B hadn't logged out herself.

Does your workplace not have information security policies? This would be a serious breach of ours.

Overandunderit · 01/02/2023 14:13

Given that this is a work system and presumably the works team messenger person A or B can do a Subject Access Request to see all communication about them via work systems, email. This won't be the end of it!

Bamboozle123 · 01/02/2023 14:14

In my organisation they'd both be in a bit of trouble.
B for not logging out and A for leaving them logged in. Both go against policy.

The slagging people off probably depends on what was said - if just harmless ranting then unlikely to be consequences but if hateful or about protected characteristics etc then perhaps go further but not by much

BatshitBanshee · 01/02/2023 14:17

Both are a little bit screwed, the one who was using work time to bitch is probably going to get a talking to.

But the one who knowingly spied on a colleague's work interactions for months?! Yeah, karma - and HR - are about to have a field day.

Neither of these people are to be trusted. Don't align yourself with either of them.

DemonHost · 01/02/2023 14:24

Personally I would say it is B’s fault for not logging out and wouldn’t blame A.

Is there a specific policy in place stating that if another person fails to log out that you have to? I doubt it. Never has been where I worked with shared IT equipment.

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