Sally Reeds, a medical secretary for the department of neurology at Western Heights Hospital in Colorado, checked her phone last night and found a post on Facebook from her friend and coworker Justin Zeels, a social worker in the same hospital. Justin wrote that Dr. Sites, medical director of neurology, had been found under a bench outside the emergency department. The hospital security officers had allegedly reported that Dr. Sites was completely intoxicated, and he had been rushed home. Sally spiced up the tale and immediately posted it. This morning, Sally looked up and noticed Dr. Sites seeing his patients as if nothing had happened. She confronted him and asked him how he could possibly face everyone after what happened last night. Dr. Sites looked confused until a screenshot of Zeels’s post was shown to Dr. Sites by another staff member. After reading it, Dr. Sites became livid and fired Justin for spreading such a malicious rumor. Meanwhile, Maria Hummings hire, another medical secretary, who saw the entire incident in the office, took a video, and texted it to her friends.
Discussion Questions 1. What did Sally do wrong?
2. What should Justin have done?
3. What should the organization do to prevent the spread of gossip through the grapevine?