City of Boston apologizes for ‘accidentally’ emailing out names of unvaccinated employees: Report

The City of Boston apologized for "accidentally" sharing information disclosing that about 100 employees were unvaccinated and had tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a report. 

The city’s human resources department sent an email out on Jan. 18 to about 100 employees notifying them that they had submitted information indicating they tested positive for COVID-19. The email – which had all names and emails visible on the chain – said policy changed to no longer allow continued testing and recipients would be required to become vaccinated or face possible disciplinary action. 

"Under the City’s earlier policy, you submitted information related to a positive COVID-19 test result," the initial email sent to the some 100 out of compliance employees, obtained by the Boston Herald, read. "As continued testing is no longer allowed under the Policy, please be aware that you are required to become vaccinated in order to comply with the Policy if you have not already done so." 

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Days later, the HR department apologized to the same group of employees, the Herald reported. 

"Unintentionally and accidentally, we messed up," the follow-up email read. "The communication was intended to be sent as a BCC so as to respect employees’ privacy. The wrong button got pushed and so the email was sent showing all email addresses."

"We apologize for the error," the email continued. "We truly do take employees’ privacy interests seriously and have reviewed and improved our practices and guidelines to make sure this doesn’t happen again… We will do better. We thank you for your understanding."

The city told the newspaper that the recipients of the initial email were supposed to be blind-copied, meaning their names and emails would have been hidden from other recipients. 

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A union representing Boston Public Library workers has taken the issue up with the HR department and the city office of labor relations over what they’re describing as a privacy breach. 

"People have to be held accountable for these kinds of actions," Elissa Cadillic of AFSCME Local 1526. "All of these people now know people’s business."