BAD BUSINESS

uExpress, September, 2007 by Randy Cohen

I occasionally write a journal entry when I am angry or hurt. I inadvertently left two such entries, whiny but not vitriolic, on my computer at my former job, criticizing a decision by my boss. She discovered them in a folder I thought I had destroyed. She'd always given me good evaluations but now says I may not use her as a reference. Ethical? -- A.J., Denver

Your boss sounds thin-skinned and vindictive but not necessarily unethical. She is not required to write you a reference. But if you have described this situation accurately -- your diarizing might look different from her perspective -- then her reasons for refusing you are as dubious as her reading of your journal was in the first place.

As you know to your misfortune, there's little computer privacy at...