Advice needed - Ethical dilemma

tdean · May 2009

8 months ago, i was hired by a really small company to be their net admin. this was by the guy who was currently doing it, (he referred to himself as CTO). from the outset, they screwed me by pulling a bait and switch with my salary, leaving me to have to accept their lowball offer, and soon after my boss became borderline abusive with some of the drunken emails he'd send me at night. anyway, things really deteriorated (he would lock himself in his office weeks at a time working on his "resume builders" and be unable to complete. i would fix and finish in a day and the help desk guy said my boss was very resentful) anyway i was laid off. looking back, i think the reason he hired me was to be the fall guy for their MS audit, b/c he had me do it, and when i was done he changed the #'s b/c they were far from being in compliance.... im wondering if i should contact the MS guy and get my name off that, and what are possible ramifications of me contacting them? also, i would never want any future employers contacting this guy, (alcoholic, drug user, bipolar and with lime disease) how do i get around that? the help desk guy who was there for 15 years told me to have people call him as a reference.....

msteinhilber · May 2009

You could call 1-800-RU-LEGIT and report it to Microsoft, I'm not sure if they would document it. You could also place a call to the SIIA, I have no idea how seriously either Microsoft or the SIIA takes piracy reports - but if you get the fact that you notified them that the numbers were changed documented that would be in your favor should they try to pin it on you. As far as ramifications, I'm pretty sure Microsoft could strip you of any certifications you might hold with them if you knowingly went along with piracy, which if your former boss fudges the numbers to pin on you might affect you.

Wouldn't hurt to contact the MS rep and advise them with what you know, if you think it might come around back at you then you would be best off going forward now and explaining your concerns instead of explaining yourself after the fact. In the future, I would strongly advise bringing these things up with whoever your boss reports to if you feel your supervisor is unwilling to cooperate or if you didn't feel comfortable speaking to your immediate boss. That can be more difficult in a smaller company, but I've found through experience it's always in your best interest to typically report any concerns you have immediately, instead of letting them go.

Slowhand · May 2009

If I were you, I'd go and report it right now, make sure you're the one to call it in. Follow up with Microsoft and the other vendors your employer was pirating from, and make sure you lay out the whole story. The more upfront you are, when it comes to any mistakes you may have made (admit to them), the less likely you are to get in trouble. It sounds like it was a bad situation all around, I don't think anyone's going to blame you for taking some time to shake the experience off before doing something about it. Just don't sit on that powder-keg until it explodes under you, you'll be in no position to defend yourself if your boss beats you to the punch and the blame gets pinned on you.

Psoasman · May 2009

I would document everything you can remember doing. Contact MS and let them know.

networker050184 · May 2009

I would just hit the road and never look back. Not worth it to rat anyone out to MS IMO. Just use the helpdesk guy as a coworker reference and move on.

Kaminsky · May 2009

networker050184 wrote: »

I would just hit the road and never look back. Not worth it to rat anyone out to MS IMO. Just use the helpdesk guy as a coworker reference and move on.

+1 agree

impelse · May 2009

Forget about that job, keep going, he will get his own bad results.

Advice needed - Ethical dilemma

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