3 ms·

Unethical, I’m not sure I find it all that nefarious. Strange yes, unethical, eh.

• asveikau 4y ago
  A lot of people exchange small personal, not strictly work related messages with departing employees, to wish them luck or maybe keep in touch. I think it's unethical for the employer to read that. And it's even more unethical for an employer to reply as you, and make that person think you got the message and/or appreciated it. For example, if the departing employee later interacts with former coworkers in a social context (employer totally out of the picture), someone could falsely get the impression that somebody replied to a personal message, when they actually did not read it.. That could theoretically have social consequences that are none of the employer's business. Maybe that coworker the IT guy replied "thanks" to was actually stalking them. Maybe there was some kind of affair? Those are probably atypical, but my point is you don't know what weird consequence even a small "thanks" could have. That is why, IMO, the most ethical thing an employer can do here is to not even look at the messages, let alone reply.