1-800-Flowers Employee Fired for E-Mail Death Threat
When you have something to say, and you don't have the words to say it, sometimes it's best to just say it with flowers -- at least that's what the advertising from some floral delivery services would have you believe. Sometimes, even when you have the words, it might be a good idea to just stick to the flowers too, a story that's especially true if what you're saying is a death threat and you're an employee of 1-800-Flowers! Melanie Kroll, an employee of 1-800-Flowers.com, sent a threatening e-mail to Paul "PZ" Myers, a professor at the University of Minnesota and an ardent critic of the teaching of creationism. Her e-mail threatened that if he didn't quit he was in for it:
You have two choices, you can quit your job for the good of the children. Or you can get your brains beat in.This was sent from Kroll's work e-mail address, which she apparently realized after sending, leading to her sending a second, follow-up message denying that it was her who sent it:
It seems an e-mail went out from my work account. I apologize and will look into the issue.She also indicated that the people who used her computer were harmless and Myers shouldn't be worried. Still, annoyed, he started posting the threatening e-mails that he received, including information about the senders, and before long Kroll was identified and fired from her position for "misuse of company systems or equipment for personal purposes." Apparently death threats count as misuse. [Source: Network World, via Fark]
Filed under: Computers
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
chamberhog @ Jul 18th 2008 4:03AM
I think computers should have an e-mail "delay" feature which can be voluntarily activated... and left in the "on" mode if desired. Perhaps a box that pops up with a message which reads "Are you sure youwant to send this message?". I think that a lot of people tend to react emotionally... and this slight delay could be just enough to bring them back into reality and prevent big problems.