E-mail blunder sends innocent employee to jail
Filed under: Communication, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Security and law
A former library employee involved in a bizarre e-mail mix-up will be awarded $25,000 after he was wrongfully imprisoned for allegedly threatening his boss.
William Hallowell worked in the library of a private school in New York City. He was having a work-related e-mail exchange with his supervisor when something went awry:
The manager mistakenly sent one of the messages to a wrong address that was similar to Hallowell’s.
The owner of that address sent back a long response that included racist remarks, sexual language, a mention about using prostitutes and a statement about buying a gun. Assuming the e-mail was from Hallowell, the library director called police and had him detained.
He spent more than 30 hours behind bars while trying to prove the e-mail didn’t come from him. After being released, it took him three months to have all the charges dropped.
Hallowell sued the city’s police department and was recently awarded a $25,000 in a settlement. No legal action has been taken against his employer.
Comments
One Comment on E-mail blunder sends innocent employee to jail
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Jacob Anders on
Fri, 9th Jan 2009 8:30 pm
Can I have more details on this?
