Got fired for doing the right thing


SteveMcluuf
 Share

Recommended Posts

I could really use your prayers right now. This morning I was let go from my job as an IT administrator. Apparently my boss wants to "spy" on his wife (I don't know if he suspects infidelity or not but he was pretty closed lipped about it) and asked me to install a keystroke logger on her laptop that he brought with him to work today. I wasn't comfortable doing so and felt it was dishonest and when I refused he threatened to fire me. I objected but about an hour later I was trying to figure out what to do (I was thinking of talking with another manager about it) and my boss walks in a fires me. He had two security guards with him and they escorted me out after I gathered my stuff. Very humiliating!

I keep playing the situation over and over in my head and I still think I did the right thing but maybe I could have been more tactful about it. I don't know. My wife is going to kill me when she gets home. I hate Mondays....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 66
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I could really use your prayers right now. This morning I was let go from my job as an IT administrator. Apparently my boss wants to "spy" on his wife (I don't know if he suspects infidelity or not but he was pretty closed lipped about it) and asked me to install a keystroke logger on her laptop that he brought with him to work today. I wasn't comfortable doing so and felt it was dishonest and when I refused he threatened to fire me. I objected but about an hour later I was trying to figure out what to do (I was thinking of talking with another manager about it) and my boss walks in a fires me. He had two security guards with him and they escorted me out after I gathered my stuff. Very humiliating!

I keep playing the situation over and over in my head and I still think I did the right thing but maybe I could have been more tactful about it. I don't know. My wife is going to kill me when she gets home. I hate Mondays....

That is terrible! God bless you. I am so sorry to hear that. Speak with someone about it (upper management). Depending on the laws in your state, they may have broken one or two.

My prayers will be with you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would think you would have a legal case. As what he was asking you to do had absolutely nothing to do with work..there were no grounds to fire you based on your story.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am of two minds on this.

On the one hand, I would think consulting with an attorney would be a good idea. I would be interested in JAG's opinion.

On the other hand, I would suggest contacting your boss's boss and explain what happened. I'm not sure if this is the best answer if you have grounds for a lawsuit, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm no lawyer, so take this for what it is worth.

If you want your job back, going on a lawsuit might not be the path for you. Your boss must have given you grounds for termination - they can't just fire you without cause. Take this termination grounds to your HR department and see if you can get your job back - preferably with a different boss.

If you really don't want your job back, then yes, a consultation with a lawyer might be in order.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Even if your state laws don't give you grounds for a legal case against your former boss, you should still contact HR or his supervisor to make sure that they have a record of his inappropriate actions for reference in future incidents. He'll have to report something to HR regarding your termination of employment -- I'd be interested to hear his side of the story.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It does depend on the state as the legalities of firing. Utah is a state where they can fire for no reason whatsoever. I'm not sure I agree with it. It seems to provide very little recourse.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would recommend that you consider filing a complaint as well, or at least seriously checking into it, and not taking too much time about making that decision either, as the time table is short for this. I had to do this once several years ago. I guess that was over 25 years ago now. Wow, time sure passes quickly. Of course, who knows how the laws have changed since then, or how they would differ from state to state, but I would advise looking into it.

Darn - what's the name of the government office you file your complaint with? I can't even remember that, but you can check with your state employment department, they can tell you and give you the number.

Anyway - back then, and in the state in which I lived at the time, if you suffered wrongful termination, you had also been wrongfully denied future earnings as a result, which, if the court ruled in your favor, they could order your employer to compensate, which he would then have to pay from the time of your wrongful termination, until the time of the court ruling and/or up to a two year limit, and the compensation was something like a 2/3 or 3/4 percentage of your former salary.

You can always drop a complaint after filing it (such as if you decided not to bother because you got your dream job a couple weeks from now) but with the job market the way it is, it would be a good idea to at least seriously consider covering yourself, just in case things don't go so nicely.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It does depend on the state as the legalities of firing. Utah is a state where they can fire for no reason whatsoever. I'm not sure I agree with it. It seems to provide very little recourse.

Oh my. Well if this is so now, then the laws were changed, as it was in Utah where I filed my complaint of wrongful termination. But, like I said, that was over 25 years ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

True story and I was appalled. The company that let me go in September for no known reason..recently fired a friend of mine as well. Gave her no reason either. The kicker...they let her know she was fired by a text message. Didn't even have the decency to tell her in person.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

True story and I was appalled. The company that let me go in September for no known reason..recently fired a friend of mine as well. Gave her no reason either. The kicker...they let her know she was fired by a text message. Didn't even have the decency to tell her in person.

Oh, nice. That's some company "loyal" to its employees, eh? :yuck:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm posting under my wife's name, I've been doing IT related stuff for a living for almost ten years, some working for myself, some working for other people. As a fellow IT person I feel your pain, when the boss asks us to do something unethical or illegal we are put in a hard place. I think it would definitely be worth filing a complaint with the appropriate department against your boss, as well as speaking with an attorney that specializes in employment law within your State. Although, before you do, ask yourself if there has been anything else in your work ethic, performance, or other area that they could use as the official grounds for dismissal? This is how I've seen bosses get rid of people, they collect minor niggling things, make a big record of them and then use a single incident as the catalyst, insubordination in this case. Got any other witnesses that will stand on your side?

We were asked to build an email fraudulizer, basically a series of email servers with different times that would make it appear that an email was sent a day or two before it actually was, so that a member of the Board could save face with a client. We were able to figure out how to do it, but told our boss that such a thing was impractical, and not foolproof. He already knew it was unethical when he asked. Thankfully, we didn't need to build it in the end.

What your boss asked you to do was inappropriate, borderline unethical. Since it was not work related, he would have no grounds for dismissal just for this incident. He acted without due consideration, no did he give you time to reconsider or discuss the situation with him. As an aside, a keylogger is the wrong tool for what he wanted. There are other tools out there that will take a screen capture or collect visited sites.

I think that you may have a case, dig out your employment contract, and see what it says about dismissal. Again, find out what the recorded grounds for dismissal are, and fight that. This incident may have nothing to do with the official record.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

True story and I was appalled. The company that let me go in September for no known reason..recently fired a friend of mine as well. Gave her no reason either. The kicker...they let her know she was fired by a text message. Didn't even have the decency to tell her in person.

I found out our school was closing in the newspaper. After it was in the paper the superintendent showed up. Rather than trying to find another teaching job at my age I just went ahead and retired. Why hire me when they can get some kid straight out of college for nearly half my salary?

Life stinks and then you die:(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a terrible thing to have happen due to being true to ethical behavior. Time spent on potential illegal activities that are nonworking related, definitely damages the business. It that boss had a higher level, that boss should be informed of this waste of company resources and the risk it poses for the company.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steve, I want you to know that you did the right thing. Don't doubt yourself about this.

Hang in there and you will be blessed... but it may take enduring a rough time first.

I like anatess' advice... the first thing you need to decide is if you want your job back. That will help you know how to proceed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My wife is going to kill me when she gets home. I hate Mondays....

Nothing more to add to what's been said, but you did do the right thing. I certainly hope that your wife feels that way and is as outraged as we all are by the position he tried to put you in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm no lawyer, so take this for what it is worth.

If you want your job back, going on a lawsuit might not be the path for you. Your boss must have given you grounds for termination - they can't just fire you without cause.

Actually - they can. Illinois is an at-will state and both the employee and the employer can terminate the employment at any time, for any reason (within bounds of what is legal), at least in theory - thank goodness for that, it's a good law

However, an employer may NOT terminate an employee for refusing refusing to break the law and that may be the case here/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share