Okay me: breathe. A diary of mine was mistakenly left at work and found by a co-worker. Supposedly a note had slipped out of the book and she had gone to put it back in place, but ended up reading some. This was an extremely confidential, personal journal written out as per recommendation of a health care professional. It contained a documentation of emotions felt at particular times, and a mapping of stresses which may have potential impact on my health. For two years now, I have been struggling with an undiagnosed, chronic condition which as of late has lead to an accumulation of deep frustration, and even resulted in some mild SI (ie: hitting trees, minor cutting). I had to see a counsellor, which I found humiliating to start with, who recommended keeping this journal to help with my emotional dilemma while I continued to endure my illness- seemingly without end. Of course I’m frustrated, but I continue to work everyday, pay my bills, live my life without the use of medication, anti-depressants, or alcohol. I just want to live. This journal was a desperate attempt to record any and all potentially contributing factors to my poor health. I had documented past SI experiences also in an effort to psychoanalyse my inner workings and take preventative steps to maintain mental control over my inclinations. My co-worker found this journal, read it, brought it to my immediate supervisor, who brought it to my boss. (!!?) I work in a very professional environment, and I do respect my peers. However, I am extremely discouraged by what’s taken place, and this action seemed unprofessional. My boss phoned me on my day off yesterday to inform me of what had happened- he happens to be the only one I work with who already knows and supports me in my struggles, since we are actually dear friends- and I was horrified. I have not yet spoken to my co-worker or supervisor involved since I’ve been off for the weekend. However, I return to work tomorrow and I wonder: do I have a right to feel angry? Should I feel the sense of betrayal I do? I understand decisions were made with best intentions, and I respect that, but I still feel a breech of personal privacy. The diary was labeled: ‘personal health journal- my name’. Who gave anyone a right to read and share? 11All this to say: second opinions appreciated. Thank you.
You know, years ago at my work, someone found a glitch in the system that would allow you to look at anyone’s salary if you knew the trick. Word got around and lots of dumb asses took advantage. As soon as upper management found out about it, everyone who did it got fired. (and it was a LOT of people too.)
What you’re describing sounds way worse than that. Hell yeah you’re right to be angry about it.
I have no idea what you should do about it though.
No, there is nothing you can do about it…leaving a diary out in public view means that it is open to the public to view regardless of PRIVATE JOURNAL emblazoned across the front.
Do you have the right to feel the anger and sense of betrayal that you do? Sure.
You feel how you feel. There’s no such thing as not having the right to feel your feelings. You can even, if you so choose, decide that you don’t have the right to feel angry and betrayed, and add feeling guilty about feeling the anger and betrayal.
What’s the real question is, do you have a reason to feel angry and betrayed? And thankfully (because things don’t often work out to actually be the way they at first appear, but this time they do), the answer is, “Yup.”
Your co-worker certainly had ZERO need to crack that journal, and the excuse that she wanted to put the loose page in its proper place strikes me as dissembling of the highest order. She opened the journal because she wanted to know what was in it (the journal and loose page could easily have been put into a manila envelope or folder and turned into a supervisor for delivery to you upon your return).
If you want to feel some anger with yourself for not being diligent enough about keeping the journal away from potentially prying eyes, I suppose you could find a reason for that, too, but you seem to have enough on your plate to be going on with.
You also have a right to ask your managers to carefully consider the situation and decide whether any personnel action is needed.
Factors:
(1) How did the co-worker come across the diary? Where was it? Could he or she have just left it in place for you to find when you returned?
(2) What else could the co-worker have done? Returned it discreetly to your workstation? Given it directly to you? Handed it to H.R.? What would have been the best choice?
(3) How much of the diary did the co-worker and your superiors read? Was it necessary for them to read it?
At the very least, it might be worth informing the co-worker that the next time this happens, take X, Y, Z steps. And, critically, what you should or should not do if you happen to find out something this personal and private about a colleague’s health.
If your managers don’t want to do anything about it, then you might not have much recourse, but you certainly have a right to expect better.
The legal distinction between public and private really is irrelevant. There are certain things one just should not do to one’s colleagues, regardless of your legal standing.
I totally agree with others that you have very good reasons to feel intruded upon. However, the question then becomes what you can do about it.
The general range of acceptable responses includes things like having a stern talk with your coworker, addressing the issue with management, and the like.
Unacceptable responses include things like prying into your coworker’s affairs as a tit-for-tat response, or taking some sort of revenge on the coworker, or starting a fight.
I can also read your OP to say that the coworker found it and opened it to see what was in there. After reading an entry or two, and seeing that it was a personal journal, they closed it and didn’t go any farther. They took it to their supervisor for safe-keeping. Then their supervisor took it to your supervisor.
I’d be disappointed, too. But your OP doesn’t reflect that this coworker read the info and shared it with others. You could take some comfort from that.
I take it that the book was in your work space or otherwise identifiable as yours? In other words, if I found a book marked “Personal Health Journal” but no name in a bathroom stall, I might open it to the first page to see if I can tell whose it is, or I might turn it in to the office manager to let him figure out how to get it back to its author.
But maybe there’s no defense for opening the book and reading it. Even so, if your co-worker read enough to see you describing instances of and impulses toward self-injury, I can understand reacting in such a way as to notify someone in authority. Your coworker may have been worried about your safety. He or she might have even been worried about the possibility that you might harm others in the office. That may be a wholly unjust conclusion, but workplace violence is in the news a lot these days.
Terrible thing to have happened. I don’t know what the law is but your employer may be entitled to look at anything you have left in the workplace. That’s no excuse for what your co-worker did. I suppose it’s human nature to peek at things but what you’re supposed to do is pretend it never happened. Somehow in the modern world everybody thinks they have to share everything they see or hear.
I’m really not clear on how you know that the co-worker read it, especially since ‘read it’ implies they read the whole thing and not just enough to figure out what it is. It seems like it’s quite possible that a co-worker found it, looked in it enough to figure out that it was a sensitive personal journal, then passed it off to someone in a responsible position to get it back to you. I really don’t see any ‘betrayal’ here - you screwed up and left unsecured sensitive information around, someone found it and figured out what it is, then let management handle it from there.
What would expect someone to do with it in those circumstances? I think it’s likely that your issues are making you see what happened in a much darker light, what you described sounds like it could be a perfectly professional way to handle the situation to me.
So, do your coworkers act or say anything differently to you? The kind of thing where someone finds out some interesting gossip and spreads it throughout the workplace?
Assuming it was on your desk, the coworker was snooping regardless of her lying excuse that she was putting back a loose piece of paper. You have every right to be angry. However, it’s just human nature to be curious about a journal which has “personal health journal” on it. It’s unfortunate that some people are that way. Some people may even look at it as a cry for help if it was left out. There’s a lot of complexity here that won’t lead to a clear conclusion. If she broke open your desk to get at it, then it’s easier to address. She’s way more at fault, but there were mistakes on both sides.
I would say to just try to go on like normal as best as you can. You probably will not get any sort of satisfying resolution, and pursuing that may make you feel much worse. If she brings up anything, you can say, “Those were private journal entries and I prefer not to discuss them.”
I don’t understand people saying you have no recourse. In my work environment, PII (“Personally Identifiable Information”) is sacred, and that includes health data. Finding and reading something marked “Personal Health Journal” would be a no-no…showing it to other people would be crossing a bright line. That stuff is radioactive here. I would expect termination if I did that.
I am no HR professional, but assuming things are as you described (that you’re not exaggerating the invasion of privacy) this sounds like a matter you COULD pursue with Human Resources IF you decide you want to go that route. That would likely have repercussions for your boss//friend, so you may not want to do so.
