Tricia and I had just finished a coaching call when her line rang. She answered on speaker with the client’s name, just as I was walking out of her office, so I didn’t get a chance to add “and this is Jason.” So, on speaker, to a room where he didn’t know who was present, he asked, voice quivering, “can I use some of my banked time, I just broke the law.”

Starter advice, since I nearly laughed in response: When you want to share something like this with anyone, start with, “am I on speaker?” A little “can anyone hear me” never hurt.

Don’t worry, only a court order could get us to reveal the details. But a court order could. Follow on advice, your next sentence starts with “hypothetically, what would a person do if.” This also may be a great time to mention whether or not you would like our call recorded. 

It gets comedically worse. We weren’t his first call, nor was his attorney. Or rather we were, but he had already emailed the client and candidate the details of how he broke the law. No one can say he didn’t own it…

Before you worry, no humans or animals have been injured in this transaction. He emailed a senior executive for past salary information. The executive responded a day later, saying he really couldn’t ask that. And our client panicked a little.

Which leads to the third piece of advice. When you make a mistake like this in business, jumping on the grenade may feel ethical, but let’s take a beat. I first look at harm, and so would a judge. Was this information sent and subsequently used to make a hiring or salary decision? (It was not) And is this a reasonable accident – a fender bender due to icy roads, or the result of a mischievous joyride? Reasonable accidents aren’t ethical dilemmas.

Acknowledge the mistake and cause without pointing the finger at yourself. Agree with them. State how you’re going to keep trying to do the right thing. In the icy fender bender, “It’s a good thing both us and our cars are fine, it’s hard to stop when the roads are icy, I’ll keep trying to drive safely,” is better to calm the other driver and for future disputes than, “Sorry I was tailgating you and texting, I know they have laws against it.”

From that point move on, and as Tricia advised him, stop bringing it up. “Any whiplash from that accident?” All kidding aside, here’s how he could have applied it:

I may have overstepped; it’s easy for me to forget which state I’m working in. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I always want an equitable, compliant hiring process and the right person to end up at the right place.

If you really think you broke the law, consult with an attorney first. Chances are an innocent mistake can be easily backed out of. Plus, they can’t be compelled to testify against you 😉