A warning on an email subject line that was meant to protect people from getting fired ended up getting two people fired from the City of Fort Lauderdale.
That warning was “NSFW”, meaning that the email was “Not Safe For Work” because it was either pornographic, racist or homophobic in nature.
Besides the two city employees that were fired, 11 others were disciplined, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
All employees worked for the city’s building department.
Altogether, more than 900 emails were sent to and from the 13 employees, including 12 men and one woman, in 2008.
The emails were discovered by an information technology worker servicing an employee laptop who became curious when she noticed some of the emails were marked “NSFW.”
The main culprit was Michael Schoppert, a plumbing plans examiner hired in 1993, who accumulated 922 emails that he either sent or received.
Local
Next in line was Bruce Andres, a structural plans examiner hired in 2005, who accumulated 120 emails.
Schoppert and Andres were fired on Friday.
At least two employees were disciplined even though they did not send a single email.
John Cioffi, a plumbing inspector, and Bobby Masula, a building inspector, were reprimanded because they did not report the emails.
But Cioffi said he did not report the emails because Schoppert was his boss and he feared retaliation.
Others were suspended without pay from five to 20 days. Some were given last chance warnings.
Robert Bates, director of the city's Office of Professional Standards, who investigated the case, stated that Schoppert “unleashed a plague that metastasized in the workplace and the city's IT system.”
The report also states that Schoppert "attempted to excuse his behavior by stating that the employees to whom he sent the e-mails welcomed them."
