Employer Dishonest with Client 9

[dreamliner]

I am a Certified Software Engineer representing a "BIG 5" Consulting Firm. ONE of our Major Clients is a well known Software Company who I have recently been working on site for over the last 6 months.

Very recently, I witnessed my Employer being (legally?)dishonest with our Client with regards to "SOX Compliant Issues".

I had informed (numerous times) my Project Manager - "MONTHS AGO"---- 'That The Project we are deploying for our Client IS NOT SOX Compliant and that this needs to be addressed ASAP'.

When it came down to SIGN-OFF from all stakeholders and the "SOX COMPLIANT GROUP" found the documents to be non-copmpliant, the Project Manager lied and conveyed to the CLient that he was misled in believing we were SOX Compliant all along ----

This has cost our Client to pay out (to us!!) lots more $$$$!

I 'called the Project Manager on his dishonest BS'..(privately), but he played 'the ignorant card'....
I then brought it to my internal Senior Manager. MISTAKE.

Within 3 days, I was pulled off the project and 'benched', informed by Senior Management: 'I am to have absolutely no contact with this client', 'nor any contact with anyone I personally know who is employed by this client', 'nor exchange any type of emails, IM, etc.'.

Bottomline:
I Could Not Compromise My Integrity nor pretend that I did not know the truth.

Ironically, I am due my 6th month evaluation this week.

1) Should I Make No Reference to this fiasco when writing my self-evaluation?
2) Should I expect to be fired this week?
3) Should I look for another job?
3) Should I expect to be 'black-listed' within my industry?

Any Advice, corrective critism, please reply?

 

[JAE]

Here's what I'm hearing you say:

1. You had earlier notified your PM that there was a problem with your companies product.

2. You continued to work on the project and then the problem surfaced for all to see.

3. Your PM used apparently dishonest language to convince the client that they should pay more money and continue with the project.

4. You confronted your PM and your Senior Manager about the apparent dishonesty and you were rebuffed.

5. You were removed from exposure to the client.

What you have done so far is ethical and correct. You have notified your immediate and next immediate supervisor about the issue, basically informing them that you, as a subordinate, see an ethical lapse in their behavior with regards to a client.

So you are blameless at this point in that you have done what you ought to have done. But now, you are still an employee of a company with personnel carrying questionable ethics.

"If I were you" situations are hard to express from this point on - I would say that if you are in dire need of your job - to support a family or whatever, then you could stick it out and hope that this was a one-time aberration. However, it probably reveals a flaw in their characters and you will most likely see more of this in the future.

Choices:
1. Stay put and expect more of this - but raise the issue with them each and every time (and document it) to cover yourself.

2. Stay put for the time being but start looking for a new job.

3. Go higher up the chain, hoping someone higher up has deceny and ethics and will correct the situation. (in a big big company I just don't see this happening).

4. Resign immediately.

5. Resign immediately under protest, and write a letter to the client explaining why you are no longer employed with your company.

Somehow 2 and 4 seem the best choice - option 5 is theoretically a totally and ultimately honorable thing to do, but what a ride you'll have I'm sure. If you do option 5, make sure you can prove all your assertions without a shadow of a doubt.

 

[dbuzz]

You're going to come across Individuals doing the wrong thing from time to time, and you've behaved appropriately to address this.

However, that senior management have chosen to victimise you to protect their reputation or Client relationship suggests a very poor workplace culture.

Is this the sort of place you want to work?

For mine, I'd follow JAE's Options 2 of 4, probably Option 2 to keep the finances steady while I applied for new jobs and served out my notice period.

 

[sms]

I would start with "Stay put for the time being and start looking for a new job", but I would also add contact a lawyer for advice on this situation, and stop discussing it on Eng-tips, I think you are leaving yourself wide open for more problems by discussing it here.

 

[jheidt2543]

A few comments:

1. Based on your description, you acted honorablely and are now caught in the middle. Remember, what goes around comes around. Eventually your superiors will be found out.

2. Don't quit your job, but start looking for another.

3. NEVER leave a job without having one to go to, you are always more employable if you currently have a job.

4. NEVER burn your bridges, in the long run it always comes back to haunt you.

 

[IRstuff]

If you haven't done so, make sure in the future that all your correspondence is well documented. CYA memos are a must in situations such as this.

Any wrongful termination suit might hinge on your ability to prove that the situation existed and that your superiors were attempting a coverup and are firing you for retribution.

TTFN

 

[dreamliner]

My thanks to all of you for really sound, professional advice!

Yes, my gut has been telling me to: Look for another job while I still have this one.

I am staying as far as possible 'under the radar' and hopefully can get through this with minimal 'Professionally Damage'.

And yes, I thought hard before I posted this, in fear it would be noticed by the company I work for , but heck, 'it is what it is' and this is a forum where we can bounce these types of issues around and get "Realistic Feedback"!

Thanks everyone; my confidence remains intact for the time being.

 

[MikeHalloran]

You are NOT 'under the radar'. You have been marked as a troublemaker, and are being processed. By which I mean, they are building a case against you.

They will synthesize it if necessary. <-- Read that again.

One fine day in the not very distant future, they will ask you to resign immediately or be fired for cause. They may conduct a grotesque facade of a trial, straight out of Kafka, just to demonstrate the obscene amount of money they are willing to spend on your ruination.

You are not dealing with honest people who have erred slightly. You are dealing with _professional_ liars and thieves, and you have unmasked them. Do not underestimate the ferocity of their counterattack_s_.

Don't bother writing a self- evaluation. You won't need it.

Don't write a letter. Don't resign in protest.

Do start looking for another job, NOW. You don't have time to be real picky about it.

Do decline the opportunity to suffer through an exit interview. If they insist, say nothing. I don't mean babble on for an hour incoherently; I mean, do not speak. Anything you say and especially anything you write will be used out of context to your detriment.

They will keep attacking you even after you are gone, to serve as an example to any of their other wage slaves who might be inclined to raise a question.


.. Yeah, I hope I'm wrong, too.







Mike Halloran
NOT speaking for
DeAngelo Marine Exhaust Inc.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA

 

[monkeydog]

Unfortunately Mike nailed it.
I have met these (type of) guys before, they do not play nice.

 

[sms]

Mike is right, but still get a lawyer!

 

[BJC]

A star for Mike. A lot of engineers and other people don't seem to recognize such people exist. Fortunately they are few and far between but if you run into them the rules as you knew them don't apply.

 

[dreamliner]

Mike -

Thanks for the dose of reality....as I mentioned, I was told about no 'communications with anyone I know who works at the Client Company' (full-time folks) now I am seeing it all come to light; No one at the Client Company (that I just consulted for) can HAVE any contact with me.....it took a few days to figure it out...here is how...

A Seperate Organization within this same Client company had contacted me (un-related to my current issue) about meeting for an 'informal interview for 'potentially future internal full-time job positions that could be opening up in their area, needing my skill set...' I emailed back saying that I would like to and I needed to see what my employer's Policy was......they responded saying: "that should not matter; our company holds all the licenses for what your firm is implementing for us"....etc......

When I emailed back confirming our meeting; no response; I sent another email but this time added 'that if I did not hear back I will understand'.....I never heard back...
So, here I am, I do have a 'phone inteview' with another potential company this afternnon (2nd round of interviews)...
I also have to have my "self evaluation in by the end of this week".
I have decided that I cannot finish any evaluation nor should I be available for any scheduled meeting for my review with any of my managers.

I am not sure what I am going to do yet...I almost have 6 months (in a few days)employment there....
I am going to seek professional help now....this has me in knots and I cannot afford this stress yet afford to be out of work...if I dont finish my evaluation...they will probably take action??? I dont know now what to think?????
bummed out
I believe now that I am not cut out for corporate america and I should stop trying to. I have been in this industry a long time but it is so different from when I started.
Folks were loyal to employers and employers loyal to employees for the most part. People worked for years at one job...now its all about the money.

 

[EddyC]

dreamliner,

Is what they are doing putting anyone's life in any danger? Or only causing monetary problems? If life safety is not an issue, I don't think that you should worry too much about what they are doing to their clients. I do recommend that you go get another job ASAP. Now that they have decided to do a cover up, they will want to get rid of the witnesses. You will find that ethics are a very gray issue no matter what job you hold in this world. Its part of life and we all have to deal with it. Where money is involved people will do almost anything. Anyone who has a large degree of ethics will not find the working world to their liking. But we work in it because we have to, not because we like it. So don't lose too much heart, we're all in it together.

 

[BJC]

EddyC
Thievery is not a problem? What if your mothers 401 K had money invested in their stock?

 

[EddyC]

BJC,

A person's #1 responsibility is to provide for their own and their family's well being (while not causing harm to others). To do this you have to be employable. You have to pick and choose your battles and not become a crusader for every injustice that you run into. Its dreamliner's employer's responsibility to do the right thing. If they don't then their client will come after them.

 

[BJC]

Sorry EddyC but right is right and wrong is wrong.
Try lookin up the quote buy The Reverend Martin Niemoller.
it starts out "they came for the communist..."
I to owe my family a living and a better world to live in.

 

[DRC1]

I would first take good notes and put them in your safety deposit box. If anything happens legally it wont be for a few years and your memormy wont be as good. Then go see an attorney. If the action involved federal money somewhere i the chain, or certian funds from certian states, you may be able to make a false claims action as a qui taum presenter. Trebble damages can be awarded which are triple the actual damages and as a presenter, you are entitled to a significant prcentage. Through the course of the action your employment may be protected. It is a powerful law. California is stronger than the federal law. If you thik this might apply to you, go see a good false claim attorney, an internet search should turn up local attorneys.Most will give you a free consult and most will work on a contingency.

 

[TrevorP]

Can you prove that you told your employer (i.e. the Project Manager) about this issue?

Is there anything to stop your employer saying that you insisted all along to them that the product was SOX compliant, but now they have found out that YOU lied to them?

Could they have told this to the client already - so they don't trust you and no longer want you working for them?

They have stopped you having direct contact with the client in your normal work, because you can't be trusted...

And this might purely be because the senior management believe the project manager over you, and this is what he's told them. This is more likely to be the case if you've been there 6 months, and he's been there a long time.

If you can prove it, you are in a relatively strong position. If not, your position is very weak, and damage limitation may be the order of the day.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[CarlPugh]

What you should do is purchase a new brief case with a built in recorder. Have a heart to heart talk with your supervisor. Record everything that is said.
If necessary, also have a heart to heart talk with your supervisor's supervisor and record everything that is said.
Look for another job, but save your recording and only use if necessary.

It is probably desirable to discuss the recording with a lawyer because in some states it illegial to record a conversation without the other person't knowledge.

Good Luck
Carl Pugh

 

[epoisses]

Don Quijotes... you can't turn a company's strategy 180 degrees on your own, especially if it's evil. What's the objective here, try to massacre them in a lawsuit?? No chance. I agree with EddyC, dreamliner can't afford to be a crusader at all cost (his family's income, his own mental health). Right is right, wrong is wrong. Certainly. No job is no job and that's not right either. It's not an easy decision.

Try to get out of there as fast as you can (i.e. choice 2) and start a new life in a decent company. But don't dream, dreamliner, no company is 100% ethical, they all try to go as far as they can within or a little bit ouside the boundaries of the law. Some like yours much more than others and those are the ones to avoid.