The issue in this case is that the behaviour was made off Nortel property and was not work related. However, the zero tolerance attitude that Mike Z has promoted from the beginning of his term has been seriously questioned. Additionally, Mike’s ongoing promotion of the quality of his leadership team (as professionals and as individuals) is also in doubt.

We could continue to debate the federal and state legal system in the US, but I’m not sure why. The question here comes down to Mike Z himself, as a leader and as an individual. He has promoted, in the past, his commitment to community. By keeping Hackney on staff he has sent a clear message to employees, customers and stakeholders: when it comes down to it, he is unable to exercise the power and authority that he has been handed to do the right thing (live up to his own ethical beliefs) and has been convinced (forced?) by others that keeping Hackney is somehow good for business.

Ultimately this decision will come back to haunt Mike Z and all of us at Nortel. We may not recognize the root cause when it comes back at us, but no doubt we will feel the impact in the months to come.

Lets see. I state “ethics policy” 4 times in my post and you pick out the one time where I mistype. Ah yes, only morons have typos. hahaha.

And uh, you ever think that people don’t agree to jack squat when they login? And if they did, again, refer back to my question about whether or not you forward jokes or anything information you see in email to others outside the company. Only the rare employee sends no company info (of any level of disclosure) outside the company–you must be involved in operations or supply chain or something. I think you don’t want to answer that because it incriminates you and destroys your argument. When an email deserves confidentiality, it is labeled so. I do. What about you?

Actually they overstepped the border and everyone who just thinks about blaming them for that will learn that he/her should better quit. So what they are laying us off anyway! I would plead that we should not stop to epress ourselves…

I’m finished wasting time trying to talk sense into the same crowd that perpetually slimes Nortel every silly chance they get. Go back to the Yahoo NT board and rake muck there….

I’d ask him that if that was an ethics violation, then is it also an ethics violation to forward a joke from his boss to his spouse or friend? Or is it ok to tell someone (even a spouse) outside Nortel about a coming bonus that had been announced? I’d bet BS is in flagrant violation if judged by his own INTERPRETATION of the ethical policy.

The fact is that the policy says nothing that could be specifically applied to this situation. It deals with proper and improper handling of CONFIDENTIAL material, and confidential material is marked (or should be if you are the author of the confidential material) as such. It deals with the handling of financial information. If BS is going to launch a crusade over this, perhaps he can show where the mail was marked confidential or cite which specific portion of the ethics policy was violated, because I doubt he can, if pressed to do so.

The fact is that people who have been dismissed over forwarding information in email have been dismissed because they sent material labeled “Nortel Confidential” outside the company, like a PRD or a POI chart. I’ve never seen an example of someone being disciplined over forwarding just any email or posting the contents of such an email. The other fact is that if I am the owner or source of confidential material and do not mark it as such, **I** am ultimately responsible if it gets out into the wrong hands. It’s so simple, my children can understand. Is this a gray area? Probably, but it is no more gray than a senior officer grabbing some girl’s face during non-business hours and then defending it because technically no real charges resulted out of it (like any of us would convey this type of relativist statement to our kids–Hey Billy, its ok to do drugs, just don’t get caught, ok? ‘cuz getting caught will really mess up your future….)

I’d ask those reflexively posting with the sole intent of deflecting from the real issue in order to crucify some low level employee for some hypertechnical [non]violation:
-Are you mad about the zmail itself, or the fact that it is posted here?
-Are you mad about it being posted here because you recognize that it reflects poorly on Nortel? If so, then if you are an employee, why are you not mad about the message itself?
-Are you mad that zero tolerance applies to you, but not senior management?
-Or are you just wanting zero tolerance on select folks, like the person that posted a NON-confidential email?

And for those armchair lawyers out there trying to interpret the fine points of the law when they can’t even interpret the fine points of a company ethics policy, ask yourself why so many people now explicitly put confidentiality statements in the signature of their own emails? [Hint: The answer is not because all email is inherently protected and they just want to make their emails more bloated than really required.]

As for the editor here, it is his duty to try to verify the accuracy of the information, NOT his duty to ensure that the person who gave the info to him followed his company’s ethics policy. To insinuate otherwise shows a willful ignorance. The responses from people like Miles and BS are nothing more than an implicit acknowledgement that the content is 100% accurate. So Mark is more than justified in keeping it up, whether anyone likes it or not. And the ire over the post likewise confirms its relevance.

Don’t be too certain BS. Your assertion just does not stand up to the light. Apple tried suing in May of last year and was shut down by the courts. http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/05/26/appeal/index.php

The fact is (w)hackney was charged with a crime here in Chapel Hill after the “midnight madness” basketball game at UNC and perp walked. That is why he went to court and plea bargained his way out of it. Mr. Z failed to act in accordance with corporate policy and that is why people believe the ethics officer quit. That is why Mr. “Z” had to write the memo and quote his buddy JJ, who thought it “was no big deal” and that is why the memo was leaked. You see, it all follows a pattern of deceit on the part of nortel’s leadership, same ol’ wine in a brand new bottle.

I know that nortel culture trains you to “shoot the messenger” but that strategy does not cut it in the real world.

You need to stop drinking the Nortel Mike Z kool aid. Joel was CHARGED with a crime, and was luckily able to get a deferred prosecution deal to get the CHARGES wiped out if he does not commit another crime in the next few months (and he does his community service, etc.). Lets hope some other woman does not incite him to commit assault and he gets charged again. Now get back to your Nortel-boosting like they pay you to do.