Why is it that stories like this one always seem to originate in law offices? In today’s episode of Emails Gone Wild, we find Katrina Nugent in one corner and Melinda Bird in the other.
Ms. Nugent and Ms. Bird both worked at the Sydney Australia law offices of Allens Arthur Robinson, a large firm specializing in workplace relations and commercial litigation.
As the story goes, Ms. Nugent went to the staff refrigerator on the 19 th floor of the firm’s building to find her sandwich missing. The sandwich, which was comprised of “ham, some cheese slices and two slices of bread”, was the only thing Ms. Nugent had for lunch that day. According to her email, she was between pay cheques, had no extra cash and, failing a return of the original sandwich, wanted to be reimbursed for the cost of her lunch.
Ms. Bird took exception to the tone of Ms. Nugent’s email and fired off one of her own stating that Ms. Nugent likely left her lunch on another floor. Ms. Nugent responded by stating that Ms. Bird was a dumb blonde. Ms. Bird replied that being a brunette doesn’t necessarily make one smart. When Ms. Nugent replied that Ms. Bird couldn’t keep a boyfriend (while Ms. Nugent has 5 on the go), the conversation is said to have degenerated into the kind of hilarity one shares with their friends, which is exactly what most of the lawyers in the firm promptly did.
Within hours, the email based argument had made its way half-way around the world and back to the inboxes of the firm’s partners who failed to see the humour in it all. A company spokesperson told the press that email was a business tool, not a personal messaging system. The use of it in this case was not in any way acceptable, nor is that the way the company expects people to treat their work colleagues.
Ironically, it was only the two women who were fired though neither of them moved the emails out of the in-office system. Also worth noting, by the time this piece was written, nobody has been identified as the sandwich thief.
For a more serious view of this very serious incident, please visit our bemused friends at the Sydney Daily Telegraph .
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