by Daniel Bell

Created on: October 12, 2009

This is cautionary and, I hope, darkly humorous tale involving facebook. It may even come in useful to you should you ever receive a death threat from a work colleague on that popular social tool. It is also entirely true.

On a night out with colleagues from a previous job I was involved in a short and harmless verbal altercation with an individual for whom my intense dislike was mutual. It was of the kind that we in England call "handbags at ten paces". We'd all had a bit to drink and I found it quite embarrassing as it had been witnessed by about a dozen of my colleagues in a crowded pub (including some members of human resources).

I came into work the next day and imagine my surprise when I was told that the individual in question had posted a status update on his site stating that he was "going to kill" me. This is a straight quote of what was written and not an interpretation. In fact I have edited out the more extreme insulting part of the text. Having left facebook months previously I found this a little hard to believe but I was left in little doubt by the hordes of 20 something girls in our office excitedly sharing it with each other on their iphones (it was clearly exciting news) and by reports from more friendly work colleagues.

I confronted the individual a couple of days later in the kitchen (silly I know) and asked him if he was going to do this again. He blurted something incomprehensible out and I rather childishly told him to stop crying like a baby whilst mockingly rubbing my eyes. Imagine my even greater surprise, then, when I was summoned to an office by my line manager to be told this person had made a complaint of harassment against me and that I was to face her and a member of HR for a disciplinary hearing in a couple of days.

I was understandably quite upset and very confused at this turn of events. Why would someone who had made a death threat to a work colleague wish to drag it into the light by involving HR? Did he think he was immune from sanction as the threat had not occurred at work? Or did he simply think I would not bring it up? I hadn't planned to but now I was intent on destroying this logically-challenged facebook gladiator.

A friend who was on facebook printed the threat as a screenshot for me to take into the meeting. Before the meeting, however, I really felt the need to make my adversary fear for his job. By this point my rage at the injustice of my position had reached alarming levels and I will admit I was not thinking

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