The strange case of the 'murdered' legal secretary...

A trainee solicitor at a London law firm is facing the sack after sending a hoax email to nearly 2,000 people claiming a company secretary had been murdered.

By Suzanna Kerridge, 23 March 2001 14:32

NEWS The spoof email, circulated by a Hong Kong-based trainee working for law firm Herbert Smith, carried the 'signature' of a fictional personnel officer. Employees at Herbert Smith were so shocked by the coldness and bluntness of the email that they forwarded it to friends and associates in rival law firms - holding it up as an example of an uncaring employer. Natalie Francisco, the secretary named as the murdered woman, said she was "deeply upset" by the email. Legal Week, the lawyers' weekly publication, also received copies of the email. The trainee is accused of sending the spoof mail to 1,700 Herbert Smith employees in nine countries. A fellow trainee in London is also facing charges of helping to forward it outside the firm. Both are accused of bringing the firm's good name into disrepute.

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