Q: Can you get fired for a PERSONSAL email accidentally sent to a coworker?

A: It's hard to say because we don't know exactly what the email said and you don't want to post that on a public forum.

The problem with offensive comments is that none of us truly knows what some other person might find offensive. And what the person finds non-offensive today might become offensive later down the road.

So the answer to your question is that it truly depends on the particular facts of each case. It requires a very careful evaluation of who these people are, what you actually said, who might be offended, why you made the comment, etc... "Petty slights and trivial inconveniences" are not actionable but do you really want to go down the road of having to argue that your comment met that definition?

Is your organization a zero tolerance organization for hostile workplace behavior?

The NYS Human Rights Law changed last year and it's just not a good idea to make any type of comments based on a person's race, sex, color, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, etc... Anything that a person might not be able to change about themselves should not be a subject of discussion or ridicule. You don't know, for example, whether a heavy person might have a medical weight issue and be protected under the ADAAA. Or even whether a person appears to have a substance abuse issue but they are protected as a recovering addict of drugs or alcohol and enrolled in a recovery program.

If you make comments about things like that, someone finds those comments offensive at some point down the road, you have a problem. Don't do it.