'AITA for ratting out my assistant/colleague and getting her fired to save my own job?' UPDATED

"AITA for ratting out my assistant/colleague and getting her fired to save my own job?"

I know how it sounds, but please read before you judge. I've (30M) worked at my current employer for 3 years. Last year I received a promotion to Project Manager. In the beginning everything went well, but in the last month I've been getting more and more negative feedback.

I did not understand what was going on or why people were becoming so negative about me. I was losing clients and several colleagues were really upset with me. I was at a loss. I started talking to my manager and my department head about following courses, getting monthly feedback to perform better . I just wanted to live up to the promotion I received. I felt like I was failing.

Then a friend/colleague (27F) of mine came to me angry and demanded that I apologize for what I said. I was really confused and asked her why she was so upset with me. She explained she received an e-mail where I was basically blaming her for the issues that I was dealing with. This was an e-mail a client forwarded her. I was at a loss and explained I never send out an e-mail like that and if she could show me.

She did and it had my name, my send address and everything seemed like it was from me, but I never send it. Then it clicked with me. My assistant (39F) has access to my e-mail and has the ability to send as me. She's also the ONLY one that has these rights. I was flabbergasted and so much started to make sense.

She was next in line for my job and did not receive the promotion, I did.I checked all her sent mail on her pc (while she was out for lunch) and saw dozens of e-mails send as if it was me.

An e-mail, still open on her screen, showed my e-mail address and a written message to clients with misinformation, passive aggressiveness and straight up lies. These were send out under MY NAME.

I made screenshots and send them to myself, then went to my manager and the head of the department. They....were....pissed. She was fired that same day. I was relieved and all my colleagues were informed. I thought I was completely in the right here, but some people at work are complaining that I violated company policy for snooping on her PC and violating her privacy.

My boss and direct colleagues have my back, but the people that knew her (she has worked there since 2011 and I've only been here since 2018) say I went to far. Apparently she's a single mother with 2 kids and needed this job.

I also need this job and she was more than willing to sacrifice me for her benefit, I don't see how I could be in the wrong for defending myself. Maybe I'm just to close to the situation to see it? Did I go to far by going on her PC?

TL:DR AITA for snooping on my assistants PC and with it breaking a privacy policy of the company, to prove she was sabotaging me and getting her fired while saving my own job?

What do you think? AITA? This is what top commenters had to say:

TheBestPeter said:

NTA. She was trying to screw over your career through lies and deceptions and you caught her and she received the correct punishment for her actions.

[deleted] said:

You didn’t “get” her fired; she did this to herself. Someone would have figured it out eventually. She chose to risk her job and endanger the business with her deceitful behavior. Losing her position is a natural consequence of her choices. NTA I hope you are able to continue to repair your reputation from the damage she caused.

make-me-pretty said:

NTA, she got what she deserved. Who cares she worked there longer and is a single mother of two. If she so needs the job, then she should've taken into account possible scenarios her actions would lead to. This was one of them. Why should people pity someone for the situations they themselves put themselves into???

[deleted] asked:

What is the privacy policy of the company? If it's work equipment, owned by the company, I don't think you can have an expectation for privacy.

Also, she's your assistant and has the ability to send emails as you, so you have the right to look at anything she's sending on your behalf, and it seems like you did it just in time. If she has the brass to send out emails full of lies as you, then she has to accept the consequences!

OP responded:

Honestly, I wasn't completely aware of what the privacy policy entailed. So I spoke to our HR department. They state, and I'm paraphrasing here, that in no circumstances are you allowed to go onto someone elses account and use their data, as some people have very sensitive data.

They said, they made an exception for me in thise case, because 1. I was her supervisor and 2. She was causing damage to not only me, but to the company as a whole with her behavior. I still got a warning for doing it, just not any real punishment.

And poppit88 said:

You are absolutely NTA! Not only was she destroying your good name, but also the good name of your company. The executive clearly picked the right person for the job, you. I think your story pretty much explains why she didnt receive the promotion. And why she was sacked!

And heatherlincoln said:

NTA obviously her friends would have her back but what she did was shady and she deserved what she got, if your boss doesn't have a problem then don't worry .

He later shared this first update:

They just let me know they are holding a meeting to clarify what exactly happened. They were catching on to the people that weren't happy about her being fired and they want to quell any issues before they start taking root. I'll update again once the meeting is over (it's in 1H and 20 minutes from now)

Second update:

Meeting took about an 1,5 hour and after that I was in and out of talks with colleagues and other people. It was properly explained what she was doing and has done to me and the company.

The attitude towards me noticeably changed in a positive direction, with a lot of people apologizing to me and explaining they've known her for years, were friends and could not imagine she actually did something like this. Honestly, I'm happy it ended up this way. HR and my boss really had my back here and pre-emptively handled to avoid any linger negativity. Nothing but praise for them.

I've requested some time off, which was approved and I'll be home for a week starting next week. Per my request/advice they are also going to revise (or at least look at) the company policy regarding access to other people's e-mails and other security issues I've noticed.

It'll probably be the last update for now, I might make an update post if anything significant happens. Thank you all again.