A woman in the UK was fired by text message this past August. The 21-year-old worked at a trendy fashion store for eight weeks when she got the message. It said, "We've reviewed your sales figures and they're not up to the level we need. As a result we will not require your services any more. Thank you for your time with us."

Read more of the story here.

The worker was home sick with a migraine when she was sacked.

The manager notes "as we wished to spare Miss Tanner the embarrassment and expense of coming to the store only to be sent home again, we thought it was the best course of action."

"We would rather have spoken in person to Miss Tanner but her telephone was switched off."

In another ‘what were they thinking’ story, 400 Radio Shack employees were laid off by e-mail. Apparently there had been previous meetings that warned of the possibility. And in August, 400 to 450 employees signed into their company e-mail to find an electronic pink slip.

Radio Shack defended their actions by saying "the electronic notification was quicker and allowed more privacy than breaking the news in person," says spokeswoman Kay Jackson.

So what do you think? Would you prefer to deal with a lay off situation in the privacy of your cubicle, or would you rather sit in front of HR staff, bosses, etc. and try to keep your composure? Have you experienced anything like this?

Personally I don’t always check my email in the morning, so I might not even know I’d been sacked!