Real-life 'moral' dilemma, should I forward the e-mail?

We know she’s a horrible person (according to you) but by forwarding that email, you’ll be one too. I wouldn’t do it.

I would forward it, but then again I am a bitch. Though if you do decide to forward the email you might want to add why you’re forwarding, perhaps an explanation such as the one you gave us about how you feel a loyalty to the company—sorry, owner.

Go for it. Maybe the boss’s boss will ask you if she’s stepped out of line in other ways, and you can tell her about the ten months thing.

If the office is all a buzz about the email chances are the news will get to the higher ups anyway. If you choose to be the one to deliberately let the error be known, just know that it could come back to bite you in the ass. Be prepared.

If you feel that her (your boss’s) actions were detrimental to the company and represent an honest failing (rather than an honest error) you are, in my opinion, morally obligated to pass along word of the mistake. I know if one of my supervisors accidentally handed out classified info to their underlings I would want to knwo about it.

Ask yourself what your motive is, sure, but more importantly, what is the result? Will you then have to work with a slighted boss that knows you’re liable to rat them out if they screw up? Doesn’t sound like a fun work environment to me. On the other hand, working for an owner that knows you didn’t feel it necessary to pass along such an agregious violation of policy might not be any better.

I don’t think it’s generally a good idea to act out of spite and malice. Ask yourself how you would handle this if your boss wasn’t a bad boss and horrible person. Is she aware that she forwarded this email in error? She shouldn’t have sent out confidential financial information, of course, however, there could be serious office politics here and it could end up backfiring on you.

If her boss or the company owner’s loyalties lie with her rather than you she may just get a warning or talk about how she needs to be more careful and you could be in trouble both with her for not only exposing her error and going over her head and with her boss. And her boss may see it as you shooting your boss in the back by merely forwarding the email rather than handling it in a more professional way than just “ratting” her out. You just need to handle it carefully or you might end up worse off than you are now. I don’t know the politics of the company you work so I’m not sure what you should do, but probably not this. It’s a delicate situation and you should be careful, I think.

Edit: my comment goes over some of the same territory as the above post, but @crazyivan got in there just seconds before me.:-)

Don’t do that.

I’m in agreement with those that suggest not to forward it. In fact, I wouldn’t discuss it with anyone other than your supervisor, no matter how much you disfavor her. It’s a matter of keeping your reputation intact.

I wouldn’t do it. No good could come of it.

I wouldn’t do it either. Why not tell your boss about it, even though she is lousy, and show her you’ve got her back?

No idea, but don’t do it because you hate her. Make a decision about what you would do as a good employee and do that.

I would go back to your boss who sent it and simply I don’t think you meant to have sent this to me. You are on record as receiving this and if your boss doesn’t already know she fucked up she soon will. You going above her could only create problems for her and then for you. If you do nothing then it will also be known you did nothing and that in most cases is not good either. By going to the person who is responsible for the error you are off the hook over possessing sensitive information as it will then be your bosses responsibility to report to the owner if necessary to do so. Doing this preserves your integrity as an honest employee of the company. You will always have this knowledge of this fro pah that you could bring to bear against your boss if and when the situation merits it.

I would arrange to get it into the boos’ hands without letting her know it came from me. So no forward button. You could print it out and send it to her anonymously.

@Cruiser has entirely the right idea – you do not want to be perceived as a shark if the company is as small as you say, yet you do not need to take resposibility for handling sensitive information.

Go to your boss, tell her you have the info, delete it from your workstation PC, and watch the shit fly.

I agree with @Cruiser. I suggest doing it through email just in case you need a paper trail that you addressed it with her.

I agree with @cruiser and @Supacase. Reply to your manager via e-mail that she sent you a file that you don’t believe was appropriate to send to you. Don’t copy all the recipients; respond just to her. Be specific enough describing the contents of the file in the e-mail. As in, “Barb- I want to make you aware that you accidentally sent our group a spreadsheet with the office salaries in error. I have deleted the e-mail and the file. Could you please send me the 4th quarter sales figures? ”

Hold tight. Someone else is bound to break and spill the beans before you do if they haven’t already. I’m sure your boss knows now.

No good can come from forwarding the e-mail. The best thing would be to never mention it, and if the subject comes up, act dumb. And yea, that would (to me) be a pure definition of “rat”.

if it was forwarded to many people, someone may have already done the dirty work for you. Furthermore, they could be testing you, and this could be the test.

I think @Cruiser has it right.

This would be easier to answer by knowing…...‘What has she done ?’

Maybe its just me but I read your question twice and cant see what its about.

There is a point to @Odysseus‘s statement. Suppose your supervisor has your best interests in heart and just didn’t provide all of the details. The response stands: talk to your supervisor about the e-mail. Not only will it clarify the situation but show your respect for the company, the heirarchy, and your role in reporting to her.

Just don’t do bad things. I don’t even have to know that I understand the predicament fully for that to make sense, so just don’t.

I wouldn’t forward it. I wouldn’t step down to their level. You shouldn’t bring it up at all. If someone brings it up, don’t continue the conversation, but also don’t be rude. If they ask you if you heard about it just say “yeah” but nothing more.You don’t want to be part of the karma that may occur.

Treat your boss the way you would like be treated. If you made a mistake, what would you have an employee of yours do? If you sent sensitive/inappropriate info to your coworker or employee, would you want them to come to you and communicate the error? Who knows, it might turn her into an “ally”.
Strategically, if you tell your boss about her mistake, you’ve created “cover” for yourself. If her boss finds out and she gets in trouble, she can’t blame you.
If you’re upset that your review is delayed, bring it up to her in person.(maybe a few days after you tell her about her mistake) If you feel the need after that conversation, talk to her “boss”.
Don’t link her poor job performance to your actions.

No, you would not be a rat, you would be a jerk.
Let the others blow her cover, you stay lily-white.
Keep a copy of the email for future bargaining or litigation.
Forwarding it to her boss would be back-stabbing and lowering yourself to her standards.

I would print out a copy of the email and take it to my HOME (not leave it in the office).

While I agreed initially with the suggestions that you email only your boss indicating that company financials were emailed to a broader distribution group than perhaps she intended, this could also come back to haunt you (if she did mean to distribute it, you could look like you are questioning her judgement). I would sit tight. If someone else tips her off, fine. If questioned later, you can honestly say that you thought about telling her but then realized it might look like you were questioning her decision.

Straightforward extortion strikes me as the loftier path.

The best course of action would be to help your boss by not reporting it, discouraging others from reporting it, and letting your boss know of her mistake so she can attempt to rectify this. She will then be obliged to you, you will have scored brownie points, maybe her attitude towards you will be softened. If you report it, and she loses her job, the management will regard you as a troublemaker who got someone sacked, and if she doesn’t lose her job not only will management distrust you, she will have a cast-iron reason to hold and nurture a grudge against you.

EDIT: What @Cruiser and @BarnacleBill said

Thank you all for your suggestions. As one of eight people that received this e-mail, by the end of the work day yesterday there was a “buzz” about the info that she left in the spreadsheet. I sat tight and kept tight lipped as well. I’m here for nearly ten years and I know how the owner feels about this kind of situation.
Of course, I’m not the only one here with a low opionion of this person and as others here have said would happen, the information has made it into the hands of HER supervisor. A co-worker cc’d our Boss’ boss on a question for the group, with the spreadsheet attached.

Said co-worker had been denied two days off to go see family out of state, despite having the time banked and was given the reason that she didn’t give enough advance notice. We all cover eachothers’ customers when one is out and we have assistants that are capable of doing much of the work… the denial was spiteful.
(I guess Karma is a bitch)
I’m still going to remain tight lipped and see what happens from here.

@Odysseus, to answer your question, she listed the amount billed out to each of our customers for the year… basically, the gross profit of the company. we’re small and financial info like that isn’t meant for distribution.

This is a tough question to answer. you are in a position to possibly have her terminated, because of her gross mistake. this information could put the company in jeopardy, if certain other people acquired it.

Basing your decision on the above fact, yes, it needs to be forwarded to her boss. this will place you in a position of trying to protect the company, rather than being a “snitch”.