slushi999

I got a situation where a coworker is trying to get me fired. Here is my story then I will show you the email he sent to the boss. I need help on sending reply back to my manager to diffuse the situation and not got me in trouble. Let me begin with what happend. Feel free to ask me any questions.

Basically we are doing some migration at work so we had to start sharing desks, so one of the night guys started sitting on my cube. Well I bascially have 2 computers in my space and I mentioned he can set up his along with one of mine since I know he had a KVM switch. However what he did was completely take mine out and put his in without the switch. I did mention he can set his up but I had no IDEA he was going to take mine COMPLETELY OUT. So at this point on the next shift I willingly tried to set it up myself since it was already in my drawer. However I didnt have the Power adapter to start it up so I went into his box so I can set it up. I needed to do this so I can function as there were some applications on my pc that needed to be accessed. Also he had a admin LOCK on his pc so couldnt even Login set a basic profile up. I tried apoligizing to him but instead he went to the manager and esclated to the director. He was PISSED off i went into box. Below is the email he sent. Please help me in sending an email back to manager and director to diffuse the situation.


"Hello Shawn
There was no confusion about you going into my office box, taking out my switch and looking for my adapter without my permission. You just decided to do it. You could have contacted me via email, cell phone, home phone, through another co-worker or to me in person. Also, there
was nothing cleared up from this morning except you admitting you did it. When working with co-workers each person has to maintain a code of ethics as far as what they say, what they do, how they do it and who it affects. The fact that you went into my office and personal things
without my permission creates a low morale when working with you. It does not matter about the reasons why you went into my office box, except the reason why you didn't feel compelled to communicate with me on it. I have had things stolen from my office due to situations like these occurring. I don't like the fact that you tried to blame other
co-workers in this situation, when you know you p erformed the action the whole time. This issue occurred before with Renee and we told you to communicate with him before you moved his items. Communication and
positive work ethics are the keys here in this situation. "

2nd Email to DIRECTOR:

Currently I am very disappointed in Shawn and his respect for other people's items. This weekend he went into my office box that has all my things in it from down stairs to get a device that we never talked about getting or using without my permission. I will be moving my belongings
from his desk and will not be sitting his desk any longer to work. I have been here for almost 5 years and have never experienced this kind of disrespect from another co-worker here before. I thought he gained
understanding from his previous situation with Renee about touching people's things without permission. I would like for this to be addressed on management level and progressed to highe r levels if necessary. Shawn has been a problem with the night and weekend staff since his hiring, however due to teamwork we all have put up with him. Issues like these create low morale and large miscommunication amongst co-workers. I have spoken with my other co-workers Fakhrul Hoque and Eric Large and they have had other issues to occur with him that has
created the same low morale. They are willing to speak with you as well. "

He has blown this WAY out of proporation and has been Irrational. This coworker has done this sort of thing in the past with other coworkers by getting to deep into it.He is TRYING TO DESTROY me. I may be at fault by going into this box to look for the adapter but he had no right of setting up the way he did + having an Admin Lock on his computer so I couldnt function the other pc

Thanks for any help to save me!!!

Cynthetiq

Sorry.... but the 2nd email seems to peg that there are others and it not being just him who are dissatisfied with working alongside you.

Why?

but personally... i think he's got some other issues...

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

pig

I think it's pretty simple what you should do:

1. Write down exactly what happened. Compose it in MS Word or equivalent.

2. Meet with your manager.

3. If you aren't supposed to be in someone's work box (I honestly don't know if that's a locker or his computer...I'm guessing some sort of locker) and you didn't try to locate him (and locating him is part of company policy that you have been warned about before) then you might be in some trouble.

4. If you have been having problems with your co-workers before, and this is just the proverbial straw, then you might be in some trouble.

5. Otherwise I don't see how you've got anything to worry about. You share an office - he disconnected your machine, you had to turn it on. If it's that simple, then why are you worried?

/gets the feeling there is more to this story

__________________
You don't love me, you just love my piggy style

maleficent

It peeves me when people don't try to resolve the problem with the person that they have the problem with.. and instead choose to go over their heads. But, I'm honestly not sure that he didn't try to resolve the issue with you first he just wasn't satisified with the results.

There's a lot more to this story than you are telling us. I'm guessing there's some history between the two of you and maybe some others in your department.

All you can do is document your side of the story. Tell the truth, from your side. Don't try to blame others, that only makes you look unprofessional. Accept responsibility for any wrong doings you may have done, and see what it will take to move on from there.

__________________

betula

You're getting some good advise from the people above. Make sure you own up for what you did, no matter how insignificant it seems. I think higher-ups and others will respect you more if you don't try to dodge the issue. Did you e-mail the person about how you thought he/she should setup his/her computer in your cube? If so, it'd be solid to have a copy, since you probably mentioned using the switch.

Sounds like you'll probably get at least a little lecture about 'respecting people's stuff,' but I doubt you can be fired or suspended for something like this. Man, I can't wait to get into this office politics stuff!

thatoneguy

Man, I hate these types of situations. I prefer to settle things between the person the issue is WITH, not go immediately to a manager. Well, not much you can do now, other than talk to your manager and explain your side of the situation. If you really weren't in the wrong and it's a misunderstanding, I don't see how you could get fired or anything... maybe the manager will mediate a discussion with the two of you or something.

As for the "whole story", as others above have said, it seems like there's a bit more than we know about, other past issues. As long as those weren't really anything, it shouldn't be too bad, I'd think. From the amount we know about the situation, this guy could be totally blowing those out of proportion as well, and since he did that in this case, I wouldn't put that past him.

So, I'd just go to your manager, don't wait for him/her to come to you. Explain what happened and try and head it off before it gets worse. Good luck with this, hopefully it doesn't end badly for you.

__________________
"Thank you for flying Church of England, cake or death?"

goddfather40

Are the switch, adapter, etc. really personal items? I assume it is company property, and so is the office. It is not like you were looking at some personal documents or something (which really shouldn't be at work anyways). If you needed to get into his work materials in order to function at work that day, then you had every right to.

__________________
My name is goddfather40 and I approved this message.

I got ho's and I got bitches,
In C++ I branch with switches
-MC Plus+

slushi999

Below is the email I plan on sending to upper managment to diffuse the situation. Please reccomend any comments or suggestions for changes.

Dear Jeff:

This is in reference to Brad email regarding relocating to upstairs. At that moment, there were two computers setup in my cubical, one on the left and one on the right side. When I realized that James had moved over to my spot during the shift change, I verbally communicated with him that he is more than welcome to setup his computer on the left hand side with my pc. I knew he had a KVM switch that we can both use interchangeably. I was open for solution to get a working setup for both of us. There are applications from the PC on the left side that I and Fakhrul use to function throughout the day.


When I came in to work one weekend I was surprised to see that Brad had setup his pc, and I had no idea that he was going to totally disconnect mine. At this point I was going to setup a basic profile on his pc for use but it came to be that he had some administrator lock on it, and there was an error message that his computer is “ not available on Turner domain,” so it wasn’t even accessible and he made the entire position untenable. At this point there was a KVM switch that was in my bottom right hand drawer and not in his box. While I attempted to get it setup and plugged it in to my pc with the monitor, I realized it required a power adapter. I noticed it was not in my drawer. I went in to look for the power adapter but couldn’t find it and that I did not go into his box just randomly. Hence, I attempted to set up the switch with the purpose of making a better situation for both of us, so we can both have our access to pc’s - using one monitor on the left side and a KVM on the top. I had mentioned to James that I attempted to look for the adapter and could not find it. I feel he has taken this way out of proportion, and has over blown this as this something he has done in prior situations.


I feel this was just a miscommunication on our part. I have a email to verify that I tried to communicate with him to formulate a setup on setting up the switch so that we can both have functioning pcs and have a comfortable and operational working environment.


I have a good working relationship with all my peers and supervisors.

Sincerely,

Shawn Jones

william

I have to say - if you're on the up-and-up, perhaps your partner is doing things w/his computer he shouldn't be. My work settings and my home settings are set that way just because of that. I don't access from work what I access from home (i.e. - TFP). If he's pushing the CO limit, it would explain wanting to restrict who sees what he's accessing.

irseg

Let us know how it turns out. If I was the HR guy responsible for taking care of this situation, assuming that there are no other outstanding issues with either of you, my thoughts would be: "Well that was dumb of Shawn, he should have just hooked his computer back up rather than getting on his coworker's computer and going through the guy's stuff, or wasting time dicking around with a KVM switch. I'll give him a slap on the wrist. Now, I wonder what Brad has on his computer that is making him so defensive? I think I'll have the IT guys look into it."

slushi999

All:

I wanted to appreicate everyones input. Had a meeting with my manger this morning. Everything went well. We chatted for about 5 minuutes. First I went through the whole story again of the email I sent him. I mentioned I was being considerite enough to setup both of our pcs and not just disconnecting his again. He asked what could I have done to better solve this problem. Also he mentioned to always tell the truth and he would lose respect for anyone of his coworkers if they were dishonest in the workplace. Thridly he said come to him more often and not be scared of him. And finally said to take a learning life lesson out of this. He didnt file any report on me so guess he didnt write me up? If he did I would have to sign right? Has anyone ever been written up?

When I bump into the coworker again, what should I say or is it better to just stay away and be very cautious. Should I just apolgize and say "lets just put this past behind us and move on"?