I think you need to do your job.

see, it's that simple.

you ain't there to make and keep friends, you're there to collect a check.

I want to report him. This is both morally wrong (he has a wife and two little kids!) and really creepy

Now if it was against the rules to use the work email for personal things then you would have every right to report him. Other than that stay out of it. It is not your place to be involved in his personal life and have him potentially fired. I know you want to do it for the right reasons, thinking of his family, but that is not work related.

Also how do you know that its is a prostitute? Were you reading his emails? He may have something else going on that you are unaware of.

Just say out of it

Yikes. Keep your mouth shut and say a prayer for his poor family. It's really none of your business. However, if you absolutely MUST butt in then print out the incriminating e-mails and anonymously mail them to his wife. Let her deal with it, not your poor boss.

Its none of your business what he does with his spare time or lunch. If you can't handle it, I suggest you look for another job.

Just becasue you have access to the account doesn't mean you should read his email.

I don't see any reason for you to get involved.

I got the impression that you actually read his emails! I agree that you shouldn't get involved, because although what he is doing IS wrong, it really isn't your business.

I agree -- stay out of it. You're not involved in his personal life, so this is not your business (your moral opinions notwithstanding).

But what are you going to say? He has a really hot lunch?
The thing is, i don't believe anything would come of this, it's a small office right? His only offense is using his work email.
Don't get any further involved and don't make him cognizant that you read that particular exchange with Turning Tricks Tina.
Let him suffer for his sins.

I agree - just because you have the access doesn't mean you should read his emails. It's really none of your business.

On a totally different note though... it doesn't make sense to me that you are sending bulk emails or job descriptions from others' emails. Why don't they just give you your own email address? Eh, maybe I just don't get it.

i'm with silverpenny. i wondered about that myself.... hmmm

If he knows that you have access to his account, then he should know better than to write these e-mails where you can see them. But then again, you have access so you can send e-mail, not read it. So how did you know it was a prostitute? If you report him, you'll have to answer that question and if "I want to buy you, a prostitute, over lunch" wasn't in the subject line, you're caught. Plus, the work place would be horrendous if he found out it was you. It's really great of you to care about his family, but it's his business and not yours.

YOU are the one who should be fired!!

Nothing in the descriptin of your duties gave you permission to read any of this man's emails! If you saw a message subject that caused you to feel there was a life threatening emergency of a crime, then you should have reported the SUBJECT to your boss or the police. Depending upon which state you are in, YOUR actions of reading his email may be the CRIME here. I(f you tell the man's wife, it could also open your boss's company to a law suit.

This is not just a mater of "mind your own business", this is a matter of:

YOU ARE WRONG TO INVADE HIS PRIVACY!!!

If there were some company papers you forgot at home and for some reason you could not go, so you gave your keys to your boss and he sends this "male coworker" to your house with strict instructions to go get the papers from your kitchen table. But instead of just getting the papers, he went through your whole house, read your diary, looked through the photo album you have hidden in the back of your closet, and even went through the drawers of your night stand. And there in your nightstand, next to your "massager", he finds some company office supplies and turns you in for pilfering pens.

You for taking a few pens, or the guy for ransacking your whole house?

Well, you ransacked his house when you read through his emails.

What should you do?

You should CONFESS TO BEING UNTRUSTWORTHY and get a job where you are not able to take advantage of other people's trust.

You are no better than a peeping tom or some little pervert hiding a camera in the ladies room!

Hey, if you've never seen the woman, it could be his wife! You never know what kind of naughty little deeds people do to spice up a love life.

If you are really bothered by it, then you can be mature and just briefly state to him that he may want to censor his emails or keep personal ones off of work comps b/c others have access, and that's all that needs to be said, but you can say it in a concerned and sweet way, not a condescending way. Don't go behind his back b/c like everyone said, yes it isn't your business and also it will obviously get around it was you. I think if you mention the above to him, it will have more of an impact anyways.

You need to mind your business. Unless he's selling out company secrets to the competitor, you have no business reporting him. Him having a supposed prostitute, b/c as Berlin said it could be his wife, has nothing to do with the company. And why couldn't you send bulk email from your own account? Sounds like you just wanted reason to snoop.

Woah, you people are harsh. "Sounds like you just wanted reason to snoop." I am quite positive that people WOULDN'T HAND OVER THEIR PASSWORDS

Woah, you people are harsh. "Sounds like you just wanted reason to snoop." I am quite positive that people WOULDN'T HAND OVER THEIR PASSWORDS to someone in the office WITHOUT VALID REASON. Let's not attack her for the fact that people gave her the password. It also states that she has to log responses back, which would imply that she would have to read some of the incoming messages, and perhaps the title was not as simple as "Hiring Prostitute" and it had to be opened for work purposes.
It's really sad how everyone seems to presume the worst out of everyone. I bet, if she could send the email from her account, she would. Would you just give out your password to a coworker for no reason? Probably not. So I bet there is valid reason.
Back down, people.

You really should stay out of it. You are just going to complicate your own life by getting involved. He makes his own decisions, and you don't really have a right to destroy his life--he'll do that on his own.

Part of doing your job is keeping things confidential. You're not saying he's spending company money to pay for the prostitute, and he's doing it on his own time, so he's not doing anything wrong, professionally, and that's your only involvement here. Your *moral* issues are a different issue.

I had a sales guy I worked with who was charging motel rooms on his expense accounts. Since our parent company was in Europe they had no clue what those places were. I finally decided to report it, since it was an abuse of company money and time, but it was totally ignored. So in your case, none of that is going on and so it's none of your concern.

I agree with julieulie.

Don't tell. Regardless of this man's personal business, if this happened at my office, I would be really nervous to give the poster my password again. Keep in mind that your other co-workers may get paranoid that you're reading all of their emails if you tattle on this and it could ruin office relationships. Don't jeopardize your job for this. And anyways, if he's this sloppy hiding at work... the wife will find out eventually anyways.

"The fact that he's using his work email when he knew that I, and possibly others, could access it makes me think that on some level he wants to get caught."

Or it means he thinks you wouldn't access his messages just because you have the power to.

Just to play devil's advocate for a minute, unless they're in Nevada or another country, prostitution is illegal. Using a work computer for illegal purposes can make the company liable, I am fairly sure. That's why this is a big deal.

If it was a mistress, then no, she shouldn't say anything, but if she really a truly has reason to believe it is prostitution, then we cross into different territory (i.e. Legal vs. Moral).

Should she have been reading his email? no. Is this a weird email set up anyway? yes. All the same, the boss needs to know. If s/he's a good boss, they won't take any action until they determine whether or not he was engaging in something illegal (if it was his wife or a mistress, then fine, and nothing happens).

But if he is soliciting prostitutes via company computer this has implications on the company and they need to know.

I don't understand your computer access set-up to be honest with you so I can't say, it's wrong to do this or that. There's also not enough details (why do you open THAT e-mail? Is the title promiscuous? Is this his WORK e-mail account only--so it's involving the company?).

If he's soliciting prostitutes via company computer or company e-mails, I think that you may a valid reason to report this to your boss (in order to avoid 'scandal' or trouble for your company in the future).

If you're thinking to report this as a moral obligation: I don't quite agree with that, you need to mind your own business because like someone says, it can either be some sexy/naughty e-mail to his wife (some people like to role play). And if the office is that small and everyone knows you're the one with the access, of course, they'll find out very soon about you.

By reporting this, you MAY be risking your own job (if after investigation they decide that it's okay for him to have personal e-mails on company computers/e-mail accounts), because if you're not supposed to be reading co-worker's e-mails (due to the sensitive information you're entrusted), you're going to be breaching your 'contract' as an employee.

Read up your office 'rules' first before going to your supervisor regarding such sensitive matter.

while i understand the sentiment that she should stay out of it etc. if part of her job description is replying to e-mails (and therefore she opened this e-mail unintentionally) it is totally within her rights to report it. many companies have rules about what can be done on company computers/e-mail, like you cannot access porn etc. if he violated the rules its your job to report him.

I agree with girlfriday. Soliticing prostitutes from a company's email address is as illegal as it is stupid.

A lot of these posters have been way harsh in judging you as a snoop and advising you to "mind your own business", but the cynic in me says that its everyone's own responsibility to watch their back in the office. If he knew you had access to his email and was still so careless to leave such correspondence on his account, then why should you have to look the other way when such an email is clearly making you uncomforatable, and as others have pointed out, may endanger your company and therefore your job? Any fool can open a random yahoo (or gmail) account to recieve emails from prostitues if he doesn't want his wife to find out, so why is this dope corresponding with a hooker w/ his work email on company time?

Whatever you do be careful, use tact, and be professional.

wow, this guy is scum. how low does a person have to be to put a co-worker in this position, bring the possibility of sexually transmitted illness to his wife and the shame of sex for hire to his family. be careful so it doesn't taint you, although i don't know how to exactly do that. is there a company policy against using the computer for personal stuff? man, i don't envy you.

This post's timing is waaay to coincidental me thinks! I dont buy it!

However if it is real, do not get into this. First there is no proof the other person is actually a prostitute. What if its the wife or a mistress? A lot of people flirt with their partners via email in a variety of played out fantasies.

Next, please dont bring morals into this. It is none of your business.

Another point is that even if all this is true. Prostitutes and those that solicit them are hardly ever prosecuted BUT it will bring great "shame" for a small business such as yours.

Imagine if your tattle and the guy simply says "oh, that is my girlfriend/mistress/wife" or even just friend who I am fooling around with ......guess who your boss will believe??

Guess who he will want to believe? Quick answer: Not you.
Infact you would probably lose your job.

Mind your business.

Your worker email is technically company property so your privacy can't be compromised if some one else in the work place goes through it, especially not when its as part of their job as this seems to be.

I don't know whether you should report it or not - but I think there is another side to this as well which is that he left sexually explicit material somewhere where he knew you would be exposed to it. That could constitute sexually harassment.

IMO, it depends on your company's email policies.
At my job, you know from day 1 (it's part of orientation) that someone may or may not be monitoring your email account, and if you write something inappropriate, you could get in big trouble. If you have that policy in place, then you can report it and be within your rights. If it's company email, he technically shouldn't be doing personal illegal business on it. You can't use company resources to commit an illegal act. Get a yahoo account, for crying out loud.
However, if your company does not have any email monitoring policies in place, I think you should pretend you didn't see it. Yeah it's gross and yeah it's illegal, but it may end up hurting you more than him.

While this is pretty dumb of him to use work email for these conversations, (Im guessing he does it because its the only way his wife wont find out) Its not your business. Stay out of it, you will only open a big can of worms, that you will probably wish you had never opened. In the future I would suggest just skipping over these emails and only reading the ones you need to.

I agree with 7kimba7 and Ella. The emails you send from your company's email could belong to the company and if that is the case, you can justly mention it to your boss. But anyways, it is a big can of worms...things will only get messier from there...so think wisely before you decide to snitch.

I just think its weird that youre reading these emails if all youre required to do is send things out. And I agree with ppl when they say that how do you know for sure she is a prostitute? or what if shes just dating him. then its not illegal at all.

all in all, i dont agree with how you invaded someone elses privacy when it doesnt seem like its part of your job description. before telling on him, you might wanna find an answer when your boss asks you what you were doing reading his emails.

well said julieulie!

I think the majority of responders here are forgetting that she explicitly said it is her job to 'log responses back' to emails she sends out using other people's accounts. So it is her JOB to read the emails in her co-workers email inboxes. Unless the subject line in the emails said something like "THIS IS A PRIVATE MESSAGE AND NOT FOR 'ANONYMOUS ANNABELLE' TO READ", she could have very easily opened up an email not realizing it was a personal one and not meant for her eyes. I don't think it is her place to notify his wife about his activities, as yes, it could be roleplaying to bring back some excitement. But she may need to pointedly state in a discussion with him that she DOES have access to his email account and it is her job to read them all...hopefully he will get the point and open up a hotmail account and keep his private business separate from work!

Jessie- I agree. Work emails are NOT private people. If you think they are, that's hilarious and sad because there will be at least one person reading/monitoring them (and I hope for your sakes you haven't written anything compromising).

Anyway, this is interesting and reminds me of a situation that occurred where I work. A married man at my firm ended up having an affair with a woman who also works here. The receptionists and secretaries all had access to his email and knew what was going on. One day his wife stormed in demanding to know what was going on with her husband and another woman and they had to tell her.

However, I understand that this situation is different. I too think it's wise to look into company policies before proceeding further. What he's doing is illegal and if that in anyway could compromise the company, it should most definitely be reported. This could relate back to the "if you see someone cheating on a test and don't report it then you too are cheating" honor code system many of us had to follow in college/high school.

Whether or not you think it is moral is your opinion and it is not your place to tell his wife. While I understans that your job is to send out job descriptions and check for responses most professional people when they are sending such a response will put in the subject line what they are replying to or reply to the e-mail that you sent directly. You could probably avoid a lot of reading what your not supposed to by looking at the subject line. I also think you enjoy reading his personal e-mail, I would probably read the e-mails too, but the reality is you know what it is one sentence in so you could close the e-mail and move on. Unless your company has a specific written policy about using e-mail for personal use you really can not say anything to the owners. If they do then mention that you have noticed a lot of personal e-mails coming in you do not need to tell them about what you have read. Your company is the e-mail police not you.

I also agree that work e-mail is never private. I always laugh when people make the comment that is their computer. Yeah, whatever.

The only 'crime' is that he was using his work email for personal reasons. The actual contents of the personal emails is irrelevant to the issue

It is not your 'duty' to tell anyone what you read. If you want to report him then you report him for the improper use of a work computer only.

There are plenty of ways you could set it up so that someone else (i.e. your boss) discovers this on their own so you don't have to be a tattle.

I work with a guy right now that has 5 kids and has cheated sooooo many times! as a matter of fact he tryed to tell me that we are ment be together??!! and his wife "dosent understand him"! give me a break.

STAY out of it. I am telling you. No good for you. There is no way I would tell his Boss let alone his wife!!!??

Are you supposed to be reading all of their emails? I'm guessing that an email between your coworker and a prostitute did not have the subject line "Job Description." I wouldn't describe snooping into other people's private emails and then keeping track of them (you noticed he took a long lunch break one day) as moral, either. Unless it interferes with him doing his work you have no right in ratting him out. I agree with aujah... stay out of it.

If your job is to check staff are using their computers appropriately then you have to tell your boss. I would say to him that you've found something on someones computer and just give him a breif warning, but I wouldn't go into too much detail or get too involved.

I wouldn't worry about your work collegues. Chances are the situation with be kept between you, this man and your boss. If he tells anyone he has to admit what he has done and they'll all surely think he is scum and agree that you did the right thing. If your lucky maybe he'll get fired and you won't have to face him. I guess not so lucky for his family, but this shouldn't be on your conscious, it should be on his.

If you don't know his wife, then I guess it's not really any of your business. But I think she should know, and would want to know, it's not necessarily your place to tell her. I find it really surprising that people wouldn't tell at all, what if he gets an STD, do none of you watch House?!?!

If some people learned when to mind their own business and keep their mouths shut the world just might be a better place. BUT when do you decided that it's beyond keeping our mouths shut?

I personally live by the "MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS" rule.

Just thinking, but if she's on his computer at times when he's not and he was soliciting a prostitute over his PC wouldn't you think that he had already received the e-mail so it would be open already right?

So if she's just opening return e-mails to something she sent, wouldn't/shouldn't she know the difference of which ones were sent back based on the subject and/or the time and date the reply was sent????

great point girlfriday! never mind the breach of privacy, and the right or wrongs in what you did here. it's probably illegal! there could definitely be some bad implications for your workplace if it were known that they "looked the other way" about employees paying for prostitutes

You should mind your own business!!!!!!!

It isn't hurting you and you're only going too start drama, for him and yourself. Keep your nose out of it and let him get caught by someone higher up or by his own wife.

if he is stupid enough to have it in his email which you have access to, he doesnt care about being caught. there's no point in saying anything. his wife will eventually find out, as he is being sloppy with his efforts. he's barely sneaking around! for all you know, his wife knows, and she's there too. just stay out of it!

plus, wait and see if anyone else goes into his email with their access...maybe someone can do the dirty work for you, or you can band together to take action...but dont jeopardize yourself for no reason

ok...whew,,i dont want to flip out, but...DOES ANYONE USE THEIR HEAD ANYMORE?? seriously...this guy really has no respect for ANYBODY in his life...number one, his WIFE and FAMILY...

REPORT HIM TO HIS WIFE, just for being a pig...someone has to do it and I would sure as hell do it. remember "DO unto others as you would have them do to you"

therefore, if you would want someone to tell you about your cheating husband if they knew about it, then do it for someone else.

what is wrong with this guy? I mean if he doesnt feel anything for the woman anymore, then why stay with her? Divorce---take half and half.and thats it

people can always be friends...but when cheating comes into it, then forget about it.

SECOND: this guy obviously knows your reading his e-mails...correct? therefore, he also has no respect for you!
he put you in this position knowingly...he wanted it...so i suggest you help the guy out and tell him to grow some cojones...dont tell him that your gonna tell his wife though.

finally,,,if he didnt know about you reading the emails and all..it just shows he's plain STUPID..and someone like that shouldnt be around a person as good hearted as you...forget this guy...do your job..and save this poor woman's heart from this cheating man's ways!

You need to mind your own business and go back to work. It is NOT your place to say who is morally wrong and who is not.

Now this could be a real email, a prank, or just him and his wife role playing one good time. Who knows, but either way again, you need to mind your own business and do your job. Once you report him then someone may report you for something that is NOT true just out of spite because you were an ass against someone else while trying to play *All Mighty* - judging who is right and who is morally wrong by their actions, then once you've been ratted on then you'll have wished that you'd stayed out of his business.

Stop thoroughly reading ALL his damn emails and GO BACK TO WORK nosey!!!! Nobody told you to read one or even 10 of them all they way through, now did they? You were not forced....you were just a nosey ass. And now you just want someone to call you *great* for telling on him, because you want to be a big mouth just to gain attention. You are NOT that moral either.

THAT IS THE MOST DISGUSTING THING I HAVE EVER HEARD. YOU ARE SUCH A TERRIBLE WORKER THAT YOU ACTUALLY CAN READ HIS PRIVATE EMAIL AND DISCERN THAT HIS CONTACT IS A PROSTITUTE. NOW, YOU WANT TO CONTACT HIS FAMILY ABOUT A PRIVATE MATTER THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR JOB DETAILS? YOU ARE A DISGUSTING, SHREWD, SAD, LONELY PERSON AND I FEEL THAT PEOPLE LIKE YOU MAKE THIS WORLD AN UNBEARABLE PLACE. IF I WAS THE BOSS AND YOU CAME INTO MY OFFICE WITH THIS KIND OF GARBAGE I WOULD HAVE YOU PACK UP YOUR DESK AND MAIL YOU AN EXTRA CHECK TO SUE YOU AT THE END OF THE YEAR FOR CASHING IT. THE END, OF YOU, I HOPE!!