Just when you thought you'd heard every conceivable reason to fire an employee, a company in New Zealand is credited with inventing a new one. It seems Vicki Walker was fired from her job at ProCare Health for displaying a little too much 'tude in an e-mail to co-workers.

The story broke last week on a Yahoo! tech blog, written by Christopher Null. He says the woman was fired without warning when her fellow employees took offense to the language and style of her e-mail.

(She) was abruptly kicked out of her job for sending "confrontational emails" with text formatted in a variety of red, bold, and all caps fonts. Walker had sent the emails to fellow workers within the company, usually with stern and detailed instructions on how forms should be properly filled out.

Someone at ProCare didn't like her approach, suggesting she caused "disharmony in the workplace" and was being too confrontational via email, eventually firing her without warning.

But if you've ever been guilty of unabashed e-mailing, take heart: Justice was served when Walker prevailed after filing a wrongful termination claim.

Walker, however, got the last laugh. She sued for wrongful termination and won the case, pocketing $17,000 in lost wages and for other unspecified harm caused due to the firing.

Have you ever been annoyed by a co-worker's e-mail? Tell us what did you do about it?

-- Leslie Stevens-Huffman