I found out today that one of my favorite coworkers, “C”, is going to be fired. It has nothing to do with his personality or how he treats anyone, he is well liked by everyone. He just can’t do the work correctly. I overheard my supervisor “L” crying over it today and when comforting her she told me that they were going to fire C soon. C is divorced, and actively trying to get custody of the last of his four children from their abusive mother. This job is what is sustaining him. My supervisor L told me not to tell anyone, because I am definitely not supposed to know. She was not supposed to tell me. But, I feel like I have a moral obligation to my friend to tell him what is coming so that he can prepare financially and mentally. However, if it gets out that I spilled the beans, it could be my head on the chopping block. And I cannot afford to lose this job. I need it badly. Tomorrow I work a shift with C alone and I am thinking about telling him because it feels like the right thing to do. What do you think?
I’ve made a tell/don’t tell list of reasons below:
Tell:
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If it were me, I would want to know and I would consider it betrayal if one of my friends knew but didn’t tell me.
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C is a friend who has treated me very well, and who I believe deserves the warning so that he can adequately prepare.
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I am very creative, and I am sure that I could find a way to tell him without people finding out it was me.
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He is a father and having this prior notice will be good so that he can look for other jobs and continue to provide for his children.
Don’t tell:
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If I tell him I will never be trusted with sensitive information again, and I want people to trust me so that I can know future secrets.
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This is a steady job that I have room to move up in and if I get caught it will have serious consequences for my career.
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This is too nerve-racking and I don’t want to be anxious at work thinking about the possibility of getting caught.
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this could result in both myself and my supervisor being fired, and I very much like my supervisor (kinda meh on liking myself)