SAR - access to email, sent by a colleague, about you

[MINDbuzzing]

Hi all, thanks for reading this one.

My wife was recently contacted by her management team, to inform her that they'd received an email, which accused her of malpractice at work. The email had been sent by a colleague, who had no basis for such an accusation. One week on, she has been told that she has no right to view the email in question, unless the sender chooses to show it to her.

Her line manager has told her "You really don't want to see the email. Nothing good will come of it". They have informed her today, that there is no case to answer.

The problem right now, is that my wife was so distressed, that she's had to be signed off sick for 2wks....which is something that she's NEVER done, in 25yrs of working for this employer. She's devastated, somebody would email her other colleagues and her line manager, making false statements about her clinical practice, rather than address any issue with her directly. It feels very much like a personal attack and that she simply cannot face them at work, unless she gets to read what was written in the original email and be able to respond accordingly.

My wife isn't the crying kind. Yet she's cried every day since receiving notification of "an email, bringing into question, her ability to practice". She doesn't take time off sick, even when she really should do. She's been outstanding in her field, for many years now and she is 100% certain that the content of the email will detail a false allegation and feels that she really should be allowed to address, in order to be able to return to work with the sender. I understand her point, but i also know how badly it's going to affect her mental health, if she's off work for much longer. She needs some closure on this, asap, so that she can return.

Her question: Would a Subject Access Request extend as far as this email? If not, are there any systems in place, for her to gain access to the email, so that she can read it and respond, via her HR/management team?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, even if it's just a "sorry, but nothing she can do".

Thanks in advance

[ULA]

A correctly worded SAR request may give her the email but not necessarily the name of the person who wrote it as they are highly likely to redact it.

However, the company has effectively disregarded it, no action is being taken against your wife so other than getting herself upset by the contents what does she hope to achieve by getting a copy of it?

Even if she did want to respond they are not going to take it further, unless she wanted to take a grievance out against the person but again all they are likely to do is uphold the grievance.

[MINDbuzzing]

Thank you so much for your reply. Much appreciated.
I've passed this on and I feel that it will be something that she'll follow up.

I think that she is just struggling with the thought of going back to work, with somebody that clearly doesn't trust her clinical practice, to the point where this has been raised a a high level. This is making the thought of a return to practice very difficult, even though she is desperate to be able to get back asap.

Everybody who was sent the email, appears to feel somewhere between shocked, embarrassed and sorry about the email and the resulting situation, but they are currently bound by confidentiality, so they cannot even discuss it with here. These are colleagues and managers that she has worked with for many years, which is, i believe, part of the struggle, as this is pretty much unheard of, until now. Nobody has appeared to know how to deal with the situation and clinical governance staff have not been forthcoming with any further information, other than "you do not have the right to see the email".

If it were me, i'd also struggle with this, but i'd probably deal with it badly, which is why i thought that it was worth posing the question on here.

She doesn't want to raise a grievance against the person who sent the email, or anybody else. She just needs, for her own peace of mind, that she's "safe" to return to work, knowing that those who have had full confidence in her before this email, have still got the same trust in her now. She wants to either see or hear the content, so that she can move past it.....currently, it could be something that will come up again, either via email, or as a grievance or verbally at work. If she gets to see/hear the content and the tone that it was delivered, it would be easier to understand and return to working with this person.
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[kp11]

Hi MindBuzzing

Having worked in HR and Data Protection, I'm happy to offer some advice based on my experience.

First of all, its very unprofessional for a management team to inform her of the accusation with no context at all and no formal investigation. My gut says maybe they are just trying to scare her (but this is me assuming with no additional context). This sounds like something I would personally raise a grievance over because its clearly caused stress and anxiety and is affecting her going into work. The words "You really don't want to see the email. Nothing good will come of it" is extremely unprofessional and unacceptable and should be investigated - it's not okay to make someone feel like that, especially if management are not giving any context or formally investigating anything. What did they wish to gain? Was it a formal warning of some sort?
If she wants to gain access to the email, it technically is about her so does in fact constitute her personal data. I would suggest being extremely clear in the wording, something like below should do:

"On the [date] I was informed by [management team members names] that they'd received an email, which accused me of malpractice at work. This data technically constitutes my personal data as it relates to me. To be clear, I do not wish to see who sent the email, just the content of the email that relates to me"

They may or may not give the information to you - when we are deciding what information to provide in SARs there is a balancing test that comes into question. If the information is deemed to be detrimental to the individuals mental health, it might not be released. But, you could argue that the management team have caused a high level of stress and anxiety already.

I have pasted some additional passages / links from the ICO website that might help.



What should we do if the request involves information about other individuals?


Where possible, you should consider whether it is possible to comply with the request without disclosing information that identifies another individual. If this is not possible, you do not have to comply with the request except where the other individual consents to the disclosure or it is reasonable to comply with the request without that individual’s consent.

You need to respond to the requester whether or not you decide to disclose information about a third party. You must be able to justify your decision to disclose or withhold information about a third party, so you should keep a record of what you decide and why.

Our detailed guidance provides further information which may be of help too.


Ultimately, try to tell your wife not to worry too much. I hope it all gets sorted!