The old adage, don’t write anything down in an email you wouldn’t say publicly, appears to apply to chat now too, after three teachers were fired for calling their pupils “idiots” in a private chat.
The Rhode Island school teachers were using Slack – the darling of Silicon Valley that pitches to be better than email – when their messages were leaked.
Some 18 pages of their private musings on the company-issue Slack were sent to staff and students last week via a teacher’s hacked email account. They contained disparaging messages about students, including referring to particular pupils as “dumb”, “idiots” and “toxic”.
Jeremy Chiappetta, executive director of Blackstone Valley Prep said: “On Monday 20 June , senior leadership at Blackstone Valley Prep learned that disrespectful and disparaging written comments about students and families were allegedly written by some of our high-school staff. We immediately launched a full internal investigation which included interviewing the alleged teachers involved.”
“Blackstone Valley Prep ended its relationship with three high-school teachers after confirming the allegations were, in fact, true. They are no longer employed at Blackstone Valley Prep.”
This isn’t the first time Slack messages have been used against individuals or companies. In the Hulk Hogan-Gawker case, the company’s Slack archives were subpoenaed and used in court.
