Perhaps it’s the future of business etiquette. Your cell phone rings to announce an incoming text message. “Urgent,” reads a message from your employer. “Unfortunately salaries not paid. Please do not contact office. Full details to follow.” You’ve just been fired. The Accident Group, a British company that dealt with personal injuries claims mass-e-mailed 2,500 of their now-former employees with that very message. Not surprisingly, not one of the 2,500 has yet praised the company’s ingenuity.

The message included a brief apology for the method used, explaining that face-to-face meetings weren’t feasible “on the time scale available.” “This is just disgusting,” said one former employee. “We’ve all been left penniless.” Or almost all. The Accident Group’s founders, Mark Langford and his wife Debbie, gave no indication their $6.5-million mansion would be put up for sale. Even some employees refused to walk away empty-handed, choosing instead to loot computers and furniture from the firm’s offices.

» Scott Saxon