So a coworker lets slip...

[Artair]

So a coworker lets slip that while I was on vacation and she was covering, she told our boss that I had confidential documents on our network in preparation to be printed.

 

He had a fit and was swearing about me she told me. This was 8 months ago.

 

I never heard of this incident until last week by her. And my boss is the type to tell me anything straight out.

 

A little background on these documents: they have to be generated and printed, and if the printing fails, you have to back and regenerate them. So i printed them to PDF and then if the printing fails, i dont have to regenerate, just reprint the PDF.

 

Now, I never kept this procedure a secret, and I put the PDF's on my personal network drive, which only I have access to (she got access by requesting it).

 

I don't know. It just bugs me I had to hear this from her, and it seems like she was just instigating.

 

I think im going to bring this up and passive aggressively let slip her attitude, the same time I work on a solution with my boss.

 

I'm surprised he never brought it up.

 

Sad thing is, I always thought she was my friend but I feel her motive was just to start things.

[imani]

So a coworker lets slip that while I was on vacation and she was covering, she told our boss that I had confidential documents on our network in preparation to be printed.

 

He had a fit and was swearing about me she told me. This was 8 months ago.

 

I never heard of this incident until last week by her. And my boss is the type to tell me anything straight out.

 

A little background on these documents: they have to be generated and printed, and if the printing fails, you have to back and regenerate them. So i printed them to PDF and then if the printing fails, i dont have to regenerate, just reprint the PDF.

 

Now, I never kept this procedure a secret, and I put the PDF's on my personal network drive, which only I have access to (she got access by requesting it).

 

I don't know. It just bugs me I had to hear this from her, and it seems like she was just instigating.

 

I think im going to bring this up and passive aggressively let slip her attitude, the same time I work on a solution with my boss.

 

I'm surprised he never brought it up.

 

Sad thing is, I always thought she was my friend but I feel her motive was just to start things.

 

 

Just as there's no "i" in "team", there's no real "friendships" in "work". You are right, her motive was obviously to try to start something. Always try to watch your back in the work force. Don't put anything past anyone when it comes to being promoted or in good with the higher ups.

[Thaddeus]

Imani is right. That said, your coworker may have had a point. Yes, she's a manipulative, Machiavellian shrew and probably should have kept her big yap shut, but the issue she brought up isn't without problems: Keeping supposedly-confidential stuff on a personal drive is fraught with potential difficulties.

 

Obviously your boss didn't know you had done that... if he/she (your boss) knew about it, then the coworker wouldn't have any ammunition.

 

A couple of lessons here:

 

• Don't trust "friends" at work with anything confidential. Imani is right, there's no 'i' in team (though there is a "me") and there are no real friends at work. It's Ayn Randian society at it's best and worst, everyone's out for themselves regardless of the consequences;
  
• If/when you deviate a bit from standard business protocol, keep your boss informed.