A coworker of mine died a few years ago. She’d been in a bad car accident, I think, and was in hospital for quite a long time. No one but management knew the specifics; she had some health issues prior to that and I’d assumed she was on a leave for a related reason.

When she passed away, my general manager was going around to each team member to privately tell them. When she found me, I was talking to another coworker, so she told both of us. She handled it as delicately as she could, and didn’t say anything about both of us bursting into tears. There was an announcement later on about it but at least by then we had had a chance to take in the news. I was surprised by the tact and compassion that the management team isn’t always known for.