Saw a news piece last night regarding a new boss that took over a department.
He is firing people for gossiping about co-workers and getting away with it.
Time spent gossiping is unproductive time and stealing from the company. It breaks down the cooperative atmosphere and teamwork. In a sense, I can see this. I have worked at some places where it seemed like people went out of their way to tell your such-and-such about so-and-so just so they could be the first to tell you or to see "which side" you were on. Gossiping is infectious.