Flame War Over Ham Sandwich Gets Secretaries Sacked

[Theophylact]

Quote:

Two secretaries at one of Sydney's top law firms have been sacked after a catty email exchange that was circulated around the city's legal and financial district.
Allens Arthur Robinson has been rocked by the cyber brawl, which began over a missing ham sandwich and ended with one woman taunting the other for being unable to hold on to a boyfriend.

In a warning to everyone who uses email at work, Allens confirmed that Katrina Nugent and Melinda Bird had been sacked and other high-flyers were facing disciplinary action.

The trouble began last Thursday morning, when Ms Nugent sent a group email to colleagues in the firm's Sydney head office asking if anyone had stolen her lunch.

"Yesterday I put my lunch in the fridge on level 19 which included a packet of ham, some cheese slices and two slices of bread which was going to be for my lunch today," Ms Nugent wrote.

"Overnight it has gone missing and as I have no spare money to buy another lunch today, I would appreciate being reimbursed for it."

Melinda Bird fired back a terse e-mail pointing out that Ms Nugent had probably left her lunch on a different floor, and that's when the fighting words started.

Ms Nugent taunted Ms Bird for being blonde. Ms Bird replied: "Being a brunette doesn't mean you're smart, though."

Ms Nugent e-mailed her co-worker: "Let's not get person [sic] Miss Can't Keep A Boyfriend."

The email exchange was then forwarded to colleagues at Allens who copied it to rival firms.

Soon it was sweeping Sydney's offices, drawing comments from employees of Westpac, Deloitte, Macquarie Bank and JP Morgan.

One city high-flyer remarked: "This is magic. You can't script this sort of stuff."

Gary Bird said yesterday that his daughter was disappointed that the whole situation had gotten out of hand and was seeking legal advice.

"She's a very nice, quiet girl," Mr Bird said. "It is just a silly girl thing that got out of control."

An Allens Arthur Robinson spokesman said anyone involved in passing on the e-mail would be disciplined.

"Email is a business tool, not a personal messaging system - the use of it in this case was not in any way acceptable, nor is that the way we expect people to treat their work colleagues," he said.

The spokesman said he still did not know whether or not Ms Nugent's lunch was stolen.

[Beemer]

Quote:

"Overnight it has gone missing and as I have no spare money to buy another lunch today, I would appreciate being reimbursed for it."

I think she needs a higher paying job if she can't afford to replace a missing lunch.

Now's her chance.

Cheers!