Woman Fired for 'Shouting' in E-Mail

(MYFOX NATIONAL) - An accountant in New Zealand has been awarded NZD$17,000 (US$11,500) for unfair dismissal after her boss fired her without warning for using uppercase letters in an e-mail to co-workers.

ProCare Health fired Vicki Walker in December 2007 after complaints from colleagues about e-mail messages in which text was in bold type, red type or capitalized, according to the New Zealand Herald .

The specific e-mail which led to the firing advised her team how to fill out staff claim forms, specified a time and date highlighted in bold red, and had a sentence written in all capital letters and highlighted in bold blue. It stated: "To ensure your staff claim is processed and paid, please do follow the below checklist."

Her boss deemed the capital letters too confrontational for her co-workers to read after they woke up from naptime. Writing a message in capital letters is widely held to be the equivalent of shouting.

Walker said she had to take out a second mortgage on her home and borrow money in order to pay her bills over the past two years. She also said she plans to appeal to the Employment Relations Authority for further compensation.

"To say that [e-mail] is confrontational is ridiculous," Walker told the Herald. "I have spent thousands defending myself and there are so many issues that are unresolved that I want to take them up on."

Check out these e-mail etiquette tips that will help you communicate without offending others.

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