I recently raised concern about safety 13

[n3w9uy]

I recently raised concern to our department head about a potential control system flaw which could result in a product catching fire. We urgently called a meeting of peers and conducted a FMEA and Safety Analysis. The FMEA resulted in an RPN of 700. After this I was told to delete/shred all reference files and documents related to this analysis in the interest of protecting the company preemptively. The department head further explained that we would only report the corrective actions and would not give reason why to any executive members other than himself (for plausible deniability).

Questions: Is this a normal practice (I think not), and is the destruction of these documents approaching any legal boundaries? Should I comply with these requests or would I be incriminating myself?

 

[BrianPetersen]

Lawyers have solicitor-client confidentiality, and besides, at an initial meeting with an independent lawyer, you can say "the company that I work for", and "a product that we produce", and "my boss", without naming names, until you get a feel for what the overall situation is. Certainly the company's lawyer or legal team should be contacted to see what they suggest, but the course of action from there depends on whether the company's legal team decides to intervene in order to handle the situation properly, or continue to attempt to cover it up.

Personally, I'd be editing my resume, regardless.

Keep in mind that product defects are found and fixed all the time, hopefully during design, sometimes during testing before release, sometimes after they are out in the field. Product recalls do happen.

The original poster hasn't stated publicly whether this problem is a mountain, or a mole hill. And they shouldn't, until some attempt is made to rectify the situation internally. If they make it right, life goes on.

 

[CWB1]

And come on... you can discuss matters with a lawyer without violating ethics

Take a basic legal course sometime. There are many situations where you cannot legally discuss matters with an outside attorney, nvm ethically.

Stateside, discussing proprietary info with anybody outside the company is somewhere between highly unethical and outright illegal even if the relationship is privileged, which may actually negate that privilege. From the OP, his employer has done nothing wrong so he cannot seek whistleblower protections yet. A fellow employee is the only one that may have done something wrong thus far. If the OP does not give his employer's legal & HR dept opportunity to correct issues then he's sticking his neck out pretty far. If his employer becomes aware of an outside consultation due to an overzealous attorney or slip of the OP's lip, they are well within rights to terminate and pursue other recourse against him.

 

[Gymmeh]

There are definitely a few details missing, that are noted above. Most managers know what they are doing is wrong. Tell them privately that what they are doing puts the team at risk or something that will not put them on the defensive. Standing up to your boss is important, however it can go two ways, either he will respect you more, he will treat you like crap till you get a new manager, or you will need to find a new job.

Regardless what you do its always better to sleep good at night.

*As noted above, print emails, take lots of notes, etc...

 

[msquared48]

I do not see details missing here that would change my mind.

1. The boss is not concerned about the public.
2. The boss wants to lie to the other executives.
3. The boss wants to destroy evidence and engage in a coverup.

Where are the mitigating details?

Do you condone coverups for the sake of money, throwing the safety of the public to the wind?

The size of the impact here should not matter. This issue is personal ethics and principle. Legal issues second.

Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA)

 

[Rabbit12]

CWB1, the OP doesn't have to discuss proprietary information with his lawyer. He can keep it very generic and make sure he/she is protecting themselves first. Going directly over his bosses head to the HR/Legal Department would really seem to open the OP up to retaliation or at least being treated poorly by his boss.

Maybe the outside lawyer would recommend going to the HR/Legal Department, but at least then there is outside record of some conversation between the OP and his council prior to this. Would think that makes a retaliation/whistleblower case much easier if that indeed did happen.

 

[monkeydog]

I wonder which one of us is the OP, joining in the discussion with anonymity.

 

[FACS]

After joining Eng-Tips Forums on April 23, 2019, I've logged in 3 times. My last login was on Wednesday, April 24, 2019. I've started 1 thread.


And it was very funny.

 

[bones206]

n3w9uy,

You can seek generic legal advice from private counsel regarding the legalities of destroying documentation in whatever industry your are in. I don't see anything wrong with seeking generic advice as a first step. If a lawyer advises that this is in fact illegal, you can decide what to do from that point based on your personal ethics. But I think you should know the legal parameters before taking any actions.

Hopefully your product doesn't become a topic in the "Engineering Failures & Disasters" forum someday. One common theme in that forum: ethical "forks in the road" where at least one decision maker put corporate or personal interests ahead of the public's.

I'd like to be able to say if it was me, my resignation letter would be on my manager's desk already. But the company I work for has done some semi-shady stuff in the past and I still deposit their paychecks. We all have bills to pay and mouths to feed. But in your case, doing what they are asking might put you at more personal risk than disobeying. And if this product could pose significant risk to public safety, you could ultimately have something far worse on your conscience. It sounds like your company intends to correct the defect, but if they are willing to cover this up, can you really trust them?

Good luck

 

[looslib]

A line from Erin Brockovich comes to mind when she is talking to Charles Embry.
Charles: "I was asked to destroy some documents. I wasn't a very good employee."



"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[GC_Hopi]

I would not post another thing on this or any other site about this matter until you speak with a lawyer.

I think the OP took this advice.

 

[TLHS]

Just to be clear, the company's lawyer is not there to protect you, just like the company's human resources rep is not there to protect you. They are there to act for the company. If you have a legal issue that affects the company primarily and not you, then talking to the company's lawyer is a wonderful idea. If you're concerned at all about your own liability, then you should be talking to someone who's job it is to protect your interests.

In a situation where you're worried about your own exposure, the person you should be asking whether there is anything you can't discuss with your lawyer is still your lawyer.