Emailing the wrong thing to the wrong person is stressful. Doing it from your professional university email account is even more so.

Navigating to your ‘sent' folder, clicking on an email, rereading what you've written, and double-checking the email's recipients — that's a journey that can raise your blood pressure in no time.

If the contents of your email were against your school's policies or violated student privacy, ‘stressful' suddenly doesn't do your situation justice.

After all, the internet is forever. Emails are easy to save and reference. If your email violated privacy rules, your school could seek action against you. As a result, your job (and entire career) could be at stake.

Could Your Offensive Email Result in Sanctions?

If you've violated your school's privacy rules in an email, your school could recommend sanctions.

Your school's privacy statement — like this detailed example from Yale — may shed some light on what your school does and does not consider protected information.

There are also some privacy laws you should be aware of as an educator, including FERPA. FERPA protects the privacy of students. If your email was a FERPA violation (say, if you emailed one student's grade on an assignment to your entire class), then the student or your university could pursue action against you. COPPA, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, and CIPA, the Children's Internet Protection Act, also protect students' privacy and online activity — in these cases, those younger than 13.

Your school may also have a professionalism statement that provides guidelines for expected email use.

In either case, if the recipient of your email files an allegation against your university against you, you could be in trouble.

What to Do After You've Sent a Potentially Privacy-Violating Email

Here are the steps to consider taking:

1. First, if you've caught yourself in the moment, see if you can recall the message. Some email providers give you a minute or two to “undo” sending a message.
2. If the email's sent, consider the magnitude of possible damage. Do the email contents violate FERPA, your school's privacy statement, or another school policy? Were there people CC'd on the email? Even if your email did not violate hard-and-fast rules, would someone reporting this email harm your reputation or relationship with your school?
3. Resist the urge to reply. Apologizing, explaining, or attempting to minimize the email's effect can worsen the problem.
4. Retain Joseph D. Lento, an experienced education lawyer. He can help you talk with your school, handle the response and any relevant aftermath, consider your options in the context of your school's documentation, and work to help you protect your reputation and career.

Education Lawyer Joseph D. Lento Can Help You Protect Your Reputation

It can be surprising to see how fast one email can wreak havoc on your reputation, future, and (seemingly) your whole life — particularly if you said the wrong thing to the wrong person, and it's recorded in digital form forever.

The stakes can seem impossibly high. Your career could be on the line. You need a professional to help you mitigate this stressful situation. That professional is attorney Joseph D. Lento.

Attorney Joseph D. Lento is a nationwide education advisor with years of experience negotiating with schools, navigating complex academic disciplinary systems, and helping people overcome their mistakes. If you require the assistance of the Lento Law Firm, contact us today at 888.535.3686, or contact us online for more information.