If you know someone is going to be fired - do you tell?

Nurses General Nursing

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I work in a facility that someone is going to be terminated. He is a nice person but does a lot of "running around doing nothing" - this is not because he has not been given guidance or support - most of it seems to be he is disorganized and chronically late - his truck died, his neighbor blocked him in, his water line broke and on and on. So, earlier a coworker was looking at our job listings on our hospital site - she has wanted to transfer to another unit for some time and checks periodically to see if there are openings...she called me over and showed me HIS job is listed (yes, 100% it's his) as the posting date was 6 days ago - the day he left for vacation. He is on vacation for this week and next. "Rumor" was he was going to be let go but now, we know it - they would NOT offer him a transfer elsewhere in the hospital nor to work on the unit with us. He is that "bad" as far as being able to be counted on. He has a large child support payment - he has talked about this many, many times...she thinks we should tell him about the posting - I think it's not for us to get involved in...he is aware the unit manager has been unhappy w/his performance for some time, he has received multiple chances/educational times. It's not like the management hasn't tried to help him - some of it I think he just likes the "woe is me" life - but...given how hard it is to get a job and w/the holidays coming - should he be told? He will NOT see this posting because he still can't log on to our system after a year!

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Specializes in ER.

Would you want to be told? I would. You are not breaking any confidences because his job is posted. I think the kind thing to do would be let them know. Maybe he could be saving the money he might be spending on vacation.

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Specializes in ER, ICU.

The information is public so go ahead. I'm sure he would appreciate the heads up. It is always possible that it is not his job, perhaps they are hiring another duplicate position.

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I don't know that I'd want to get involved in that. What if he gets upset and confronts management, telling them that you told him it was posted, and they didn't want him to know yet? Then what if they start to look at you in a different light? People don't always play fair.

On the other hand, are you sure that HE isn't the one who told them he's resigning? Or like someone mentioned, maybe they are hiring an additional person for the same job?

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Specializes in ER.

You don't know what's going on behind the scenes, and you don't want to get mixed up in it. I would back away, unless it was my very, very best friend.

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Personally, I'd keep my nose out of it. You could get a really bad rep with management if he says you told him (...and he's probably not going to care who he brings down with him!) As previous posts said, you don't know if they're hiring an additional person for the same job, or if he resigned, etc. If I were you, I'd keep my thoughts and speculations to myself. Just my :twocents:

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A personal observation: you cannot fix "woe is me" people. If you sympathize with them you're enabling the behavior, most often related to depression, and one that you've noticed cannot be addressed by non-professional intervention. The other kind of "woe is me" person just plain won't accept personal responsibility and they will take you down with them.

This may sound harsh but I'd keep my nose out of it. If this guy is your BFF feel free to ignore my advice, but if this is a casual or work based acquaintance that you feel sorry for then sometimes you have to have personal boundaries.

(sheesh, I sound mean but it's with good intentions, honest)

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Let management deal with it.

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No, I wouldn't want to hear about it from a coworker. I would want to hear it from my boss. He'll likely be hurt that other people knew before he did if you tell him.

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Stay out of it, it's his business let him handle it on his own. You run a real risk of getting your name dragged into the mess and some people do not look kindly on those whom they do not feel have their back. You run a risk of becoming a target yourself.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
He will NOT see this posting because he still can't log on to our system after a year!

If you're talking about this thread, he WILL be able to see it anywhere he can get on the internet: home, school, public library, etc. And he wouldn't need to be logged into AN either. So you may want to edit your original post if you think he could see himself in it.

As far as your original question, I would leave the actual breaking of the bad news to management because a. it's their job to do it and not yours, b. it's not your business, and c. messengers still get shot a lot of the time.

If this is a friend of yours, the best way you can support him is to provide an ear when he needs it and offer some assistance with getting himself organized for the next job hunt.

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Specializes in Nephrology.
Would you want to be told? I would. You are not breaking any confidences because his job is posted. I think the kind thing to do would be let them know. Maybe he could be saving the money he might be spending on vacation.

It sounds like this guy got himself into his own mess. That being said, I'm sure he doesn't see it that way. If it were me and I thought I was doing fine and someone came and told me i was going to be fired, I would be so embarrassed. I would be wondering who had known and for how long and I would feel like an idiot for walking around like everything was fine. Let him save some dignity, and protect yourself, by just staying out of it.

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