To have read her emails?

[lumpkins]

I work with a lady who has been at the same workplace for 30 years. She knows everyone, gossips about everyone… you know the type!
I started 2 years ago and we work very closely together. She is incredibly kind to me, offering advice, cups of tea, giving me the ‘heads up’ on who is a good egg, who is not etc.
For various reasons I’ve started to suspect that my colleague is not as nice to me behind my back as she is to my face. One example of this would be her offering to do something to help me and then going to management to complain about me for asking her to help me when it isn’t her job (I am her senior)
This has happened a number of times now. She left her emails logged in so I took the chance to have a nose… not the best move I know, but I was feeling like I was going mad! So I uncovered email after email of her complaining to various people about me, all over the workplace. Most of the things she had complained about were made up.. she is making out I am a complete bitch to her but it’s completely false as we get on fine!
I wanted to take my findings (screenshots of 12 emails) to management to complain as my name has been repeatedly tarnished in her complaints, but I was wrong to look at her emails so should I just forget it and move on??

Going forward you need to be careful with your communications with this person and try to have any conversations in the main part of the office, in front of others, or do everything via email so there is a definite paper trail of what you did or did not say.
This^^ Your suspicions have been proved correct so be cautious with her going forward. Don’t tell anyone that you’ve read her emails, that’ll only bring trouble.

Ah ok - sorry mustn't have read the OP properly. I thought the colleague just wasn't in the room at the time, not that she wasn't in work that day.

Are you her manager/team leader or just a more senior colleague and both with the same line manager?

The way you deal with this is distance yourself. If she offers to help, say thanks but I’ll do it myself. If she gossips about someone else to you, at the very least you say nothing, or “that’s not v nice”. You give her no grounds to escalate to management about your work. If she’s mean about your hair say or generally just someone who passes information around the office in a gossipy, way not much you can do except make a log.

She is someone who (thinks) gets power from the exchange of information. That’s what gossips are.

Can I even do that? That would solve my problem!

You'd need the colleagues code though wouldn't you? If it was sent to print from her pc?

Not that it matters really as I don't think anyone would seriously do that anyway

And NO NOT open peoples emails. However justified you think you are, you never will be and the law is not on your side. I’d be more concerned about being caught and disciplined for this.

to be fair i would have forwarded the emails to everyone, and acted completely shocked

In my first job, a junior person complained to the two owners of the business that they were not being nice to him... in the emails between the two of them that he had read by hacking into their email. he was fired immediately.

Your behaviour is totally out of line. stop snooping. You now have information you shouldn't have but fine, f eel free to act on it but distancing yourself from her and ensuring that you are protecting yourself. But any reference to these emails is just going to result tin you being fired. And for good reason. Your b behaviour is absolutely unacceptable.

I believe looking at another colleague’s emails at work is grounds for firing no matter how evil the colleague may be.

I agree with pp who advise to never speak to this person again unless absolutely necessary “yes” “no” don’t pander with any pleases or thank yous at the same time keep your tone neutral. Do not engage in any sort of conversation with her. She will add, omit, twist anything you say. Try not to let her sidle up to you, that’s what she’s been doing, drawing you into her confidence and then she files away any ammunition (you seeming to agree with her on something she’s made up about someone else, the “bad eggs”, remember, she sees you as one of the bad eggs too, you just didn’t realize it) she can twist to then pit the entire office against you. If you try to ask others about her, you will probably be met with hostility because she’s gotten them onside by this time.

Basically keep as much physical distance from her as you can at all times. She has targeted you to be her means of ingratiating herself to people in the office and having fun excluding and punishing you. For what I don’t know. You just want to get along with everyone and do your job well. I have no idea how these people think, why they manipulate and do what they do, how they get people to turn on an innocent person, I don’t get it.

But.

You may have breached the inner workings of a narcissistic manipulator. That information could help us understand how they operate and so then how to deal with them. Without showing us the emails or detailing what’s in them as that’s clearly wrong, can you share the tactics she is using to pit your colleagues against you? The kind of language she is couching these accusations in and appeals to these easily taken in colleagues and so forth?

She’s an arse. Anyone who gives you a heads up on who the “good” and “bad” eggs are is always a gossipy twit.
I agree that you shouldn’t have looked but it’s done now. You need to take that to your grave and listen to the posters who have told you how to carefully play this and protect yourself at work.

Do you mean a SAR?

We had this request from a service user at work and all had to perform a search on our files and emails and forward on to the person handling the request. I don't know much about it myself, but could be worth looking into?

This is what I would do.

Tread carefully around her.

@lumpkins - going against the grain here. These emails are not her own, they are company property so as her manager you may have realistically been able to access them. Also what's your systems security like? Do you have rules about securing your PC before leaving your desk. If you do and she left her PC unlocked then she doesn't have a leg to stand on. She's damaging your reputation. Seek advice.

You can requests SAR at any point, for as much or as little info as you want. Could be your whole personal file, could be just for certain parts like contracts or absence info, or emails from XYZ person

Definitely don’t tell anyone.
At least you know how she feels about you

Below is from a legal website. Even employers have to have reasonable grounds to see employees emails. OP is in breach of multiple data privacy laws. Colleagues can use shared mailboxes but tons of private things (like PDRs, salary info. etc.) could have been in her personal mailbox and nasty colleague or not, OP is out of line.

Are employers free to spy on staff emails?

In the UK, an employer’s right to monitor an employee’s emails is governed by the Data Protection Act. The Information Commissioner has produced a detailed code of practice on the subject.
In summary, if you need to monitor employees’ communications, you should consider the following:

• Can you establish a clear business need for the monitoring?
• Is the extent of the monitoring reasonable? eg do you actually need to read the emails to determine whether or not they are personal. It may be enough simply to look at the recipient’s name
• Do you have a written policy stating that monitoring may take place?

The right to privacy has its limits. And so does the right to monitor. Like many areas of employment law, the key issue is whether the employer is being reasonable.

The type of language she uses…
”I’m more than happy to help and will always do what I can for the company, however I find it very unfair that Doris is asking me to do her work for her. I am completely stressed and overworked because of it and it’s making me ill” etc etc
”I noticed that Doris didn’t submit x piece of work, she told me she couldn’t be bothered and will do it when she has time. I am happy to do x piece of work for the flow of the dept”

At least now you know what she is like.

Distance yourself from her but just stay professional.

You can't use the emails as evidence because you would get yourself in trouble.

I think after 30 years everyone probably knows that she is a bit of a spiteful fool and her emails of complaints are very likely to be ignored.

Pick up on something she wrote in an email - example she wrote to a colleague - Jane was supposed to be doing the figures but she hasnt and left me to do it.
You say to her - I believe there was a bit of confusion about those figures? I never said I'd do them, they're your job.

Stare her down when you say it.

She'll shit herself because she'll assume that someone has told you what she said in the email.....not that you read her emails.

If she suspects that you read her emails - just say - why what's in your emails?

Don't do this though if there could be any IT track that you read her emails though!

You read her emails - that’s an awful violation of her privacy.

What an utter bitch she is. (are we allowed to use that word?)

Very interesting. Thank you for sharing with us. We all need to learn how these vicious people operate and how they manipulate others to side with them against their targets.

Ohh, her language is so manipulative, what a snake!

As PP’s have said, stop discussing anything with her, just exchange basic niceties so she can’t accuse you of being rude. Don’t ever mention your workload or what you’re working on…and never have a moan in her presence, she’ll twist what you say.

If there is cause to management can - through proper channels - review work emails, but you would need appropriate cause to do that.

But defo do not tell anyone and use this knowledge to protect yourself.

And NEVER ask her to give you a hand with anything!

@lumpkins

If anyone on my team was proven to have read another person’s emails at work, I would have to fire them - and that would probably be the case in most companies, even for an employee who is otherwise well liked or high performing.

Your colleague sounds awful but you’re going to have to find another way to catch her out in her lying.

If you have a good HR department, you should be able to raise concerns informally without having to quote specific emails.