Poison Letters in the Workplace: How Should HR Handle Malicious Emails Against Managers?

Today, I've received through electronic mail a poison letter filled with malicious content against a department manager. As an HR personnel, what actions should be taken?

Poison Letter Investigation

Conduct a highly secret, super confidential inquiry into the letter and its contents. It must be determined whether it is a hoax or the truth. The sender of the email may choose to remain unidentified due to security reasons. Just imagine when the police receive a call from an anonymous person reporting a bomb threat at a location. Do they ignore it because the caller is unknown? No.

Therefore, check the validity of the letter and its truthfulness. If it is found to be true, appropriate action can be taken against the department manager. If not, then a cybercrime case can be filed against the person sending spam emails.

Please find my suggestions as noted below:

- Separate the statement with feeling from that with the data in the document. If a sentence says your Department Manager is lousy, look for any instance provided to substantiate it.
- Investigate the validity of the data objectively.
- Maintain a third-party neutral standpoint to the entire incident.
- Seek the source once your investigation is over. Allow the person initiating this communication to contact you in person without any fear of retaliation.
- In case you find the data to be valid, please be prepared for every showdown that's imminent.
- If the data is invalid, you have a choice to ignore the entire incident and return to normalcy. However, please do set a ground rule so that this kind of invalid attack gets nipped in the bud.
- It's important to set an environment for voicing concerns without any fear. At the same time, it should not be used as a weapon to distract or malign.
- Maintain confidentiality of the entire incident.

Wish you all the best!

Regards,
(Cite Contribution)

I second Ms. (Cite Contribution) in this matter. As said by Ms. (Cite Contribution), conduct a thorough investigation to uncover the truth of the contents given in the letter. On one side, rectify the wrongful act of the department manager if proven, and on the other side, try to find the fact and reason for sending such a letter and in which way the sender was infringed by the Department Manager. If possible, provide a remedy to the originator of the mail, either directly to the individual or indirectly to the whole, but never try to retaliate against the sender.

You can place the complaint/suggestion box in some places, and it should be checked weekly. Once the complaints and suggestions are received, they should be addressed properly so that the work culture will improve.

From your query, it is not clear whether it is an anonymous mail or not. Irrespective, Deadsoul has given an apt example of why it should be investigated. If the manager is higher in rank than you, then you need to get your boss involved. Let me give some examples of how two situations (where complaints were anonymous) were dealt with.

Examples of Handling Anonymous Complaints

In the first case, an academic was accused of improper conduct under the influence of alcohol while on an away course with a mature female student. The matter was investigated by the departmental boss, and the academic was given a warning. In the second case, a student had pasted posters accusing two tutors of racism at a few points across the campus. The dean of the faculty, who saw that, got it all removed, called the concerned tutors, asked a few questions, and wanted to know how they would deal with it. The tutors did not want anything done as they did not know who the accuser was, and there the matter ended.

If such complaints are not investigated and are just brushed under the carpet, the organization will have more problems. Hence, kindly follow the sound advice of (Cite Contribution).

Have a nice day.

Regards,
Simhan
A retired academic in the UK

Dear Mr. Noahjethro,

Senior/experienced members have posted their best suggestions in a well-structured manner. I would suggest you execute a very confidential cross-verification (360 degrees) against the department manager without leaking information. Deadsoul had clearly indicated not to ignore the email.

In my previous organization, someone wrote against me. My boss called for clarifications regarding those allegations. I submitted my reply with proof. That means there were many who were not interested in following systematic procedures, and they wanted me to ignore them.

Facts to Verify

These are the facts you need to verify:
A) Either the department manager would have done something wrong for which you received an alert, or
B) An anonymous employee of your organization would have gone wrong, and he is trying to play a foul game against your department manager.

Until the game is over, try not to reveal much about your investigation, as you may fail to identify the culprit.

Good luck with the investigation.

With profound regards,
Regards

Handling a Poison Letter Situation

(Cite Contribution), deadsoul2011, S. Bhaskar & Simhan have all given the most appropriate PoA for you to handle this situation. I don't think there's anything else to suggest, except one aspect. Until you have done a preliminary inquiry about the whole aspect/complaint that absolves/indicts the Department Manager, maybe it would be better to keep the news of this to the bare minimum exposure within the organization. Otherwise, if what the mail says is indeed true, then there is a strong chance that this info can be used for a cover-up. The more potent the info in the mail [you haven't mentioned the contents], the more the chances of this happening.

And like Simhan & others have mentioned, PLEASE DON'T IGNORE THIS SITUATION.

Regards,
TS

Hi, very apt and valid suggestions by all. You can also view this incident as a generic symptom that there may not be sufficient methods or channels for the staff to vent their grievances from the bottom to the top. You can take a cue from this incident and try to incorporate free and fair direct communication channels and opportunities where junior members can convey issues to senior members.

I completely agree with Mr. Shaik Abdul Khadir because I also faced the same incident and applied the same formula, which resulted in catching the culprit who had been hiding for 3 years. So, don't ignore any email unless you are completely sure that it is invalid.

During the investigation, ensure that no one knows your formula except you and anyone you appoint for that special work.

All the best!

Regards,
Ruth

Sensible advice has been given by all the members. I just wanted to let you know of an incident in my organization. One employee wrote against his senior. Management chose to ignore it, despite knowing that the accusations may have merit (the senior had good contacts in the higher management). The frustrated employee then started writing to the media, to all the employees, etc., and the situation got out of hand.

So act without delay, with detachment, investigate, take the required action, and try to instill an environment where employees are not scared. Set up special grievance redressal committees, where the members are chosen based on merit and values. It would boost the confidence of employees.

You must also take a firm stand in case you come to know that the mail was a hoax.

All the best!

Regards

First of all, the poison letter was an informal way of venting an unvalidated grievance against a department manager using an anonymous email account. The said letter was sent to all senior managers.

Formalizing Complaints

In the spirit of fairness, I requested the sender of the letter to formalize his/her complaint by writing a formal complaint letter. Otherwise, no action will be taken, including that of a formal investigation. Proceeding to create a fact-finding committee without first ensuring a valid issue would be unfair. It would not only waste company resources but also send the message that informal complaints, like a poison letter, are acceptable forms of airing grievances.

Grievance Procedures

Venting concerns and disappointments in such a manner is not in line with the grievance procedures of a formal organization. Without a formal complaint, such a letter will remain as hearsay, and therefore, no investigation should be conducted.