Melbourne bookstore accuses employee of breaking ‘confidentiality’ by discussing pay rise

In a termination email, Natasha Seymour was accused of having a ‘total disregard for confidentiality in anything that occurs between employer and employee’. Photograph: Penny Stephens/The Guardian

Natasha Seymour had always dreamed of working in publishing. But when her bookshop employer terminated her employment after she discussed her pay with colleagues, Seymour says she feared for her future in the industry.

“It felt like not just a rejection from the bookshop but from the industry as a whole, given how small it is,” she said.