Workplace ethics question involving boss

Okay, so, uh, a friend of mine's boss has been gone from the office a whole lot lately. Beginning mid March he started only showing up one day a week or not at all and really looked puzzled and not himself. He cited "family problems" as the reason. My friend didn't think anything of it. Just last night my friend ran into a co-worker from a different shift at the bar. He was leaving to go temporarily staff another client site in St. Louis, and commented that he was glad he was getting out while he could. My friend asked why, and he told him to look said boss up on CCAP (public online court case access). Apparently the police showed up looking for him on Friday, and our client looked him up and found some scary stuff (so they already know). He looked him up and found that his boss has been charged with sexually assaulting a child 3 or more times, intimidating and threatening a victim, his wife is divorcing him, and his oldest son is being charged with obstruction of justice.

As far as my friend knows only he, his co-worker who's leaving the E36 M3storm behind, and certain management figures on the client side know this is happening.

Is it ethical to tell his fellow employees? Is it ethical to NOT tell them? What the hell is he gonna say to his boss if he sees him at work again? The last time my friend saw him, he was really gung-ho about having a meeting with the client about various frustrations he's been having...but my friend doesn't want to be put in that position in front of management since they know what's going on. And, uh, those are some pretty indefensible crimes.

Two ways to look at it. Sexual predators are scumbags, no question. He'd probably have to disclose eventually, to your...friend... and the rest of the staff there, especially if you're in a business that can serve children. ON THE OTHER HAND-

It sounds like your friend works at an establishment with multiple locations, indicating there is potentially a hierarchy in place already above his boss on the ladder. Meaning, i'd be willing to bet the business will not fail with said boss not in place. To top it all off, it's not really anyone's damn business unless it directly affects them (IE it was your kid he was touchin'). Work is work, home is home. As long as said bosses dissappearance does not affect the overall running of the operation, and doesn't harm employees (IE job loss, etc) then screw it. People tend to get jumpy and picky when stuff like this happens... better to not panic the lemmings.

Personally, I'd keep it to myself with the exception of other people that already knew and brought it to me first. Not your job to whistle blow. Or... I mean your friends.

If this is all public knowledge, I dont see what speeding up the inevitable is going to harm.

He hasn't been found guilty of said crimes, has he? So presumed innocent until found guilty should still apply.

Given that these are allegations that can destroy a person in short order I think I would be very careful with mentioning that to anybody.

Is this "boss" the top guy in this establishment? If he is not, then the employees in the know should speak to the highest level manager that they have access to, as well as the HR manager ASAP, but obviously not other employees or clients. (It sounds like they might not know whats going on).

The information about this guys situation is now in the public sphere, and clients already know about it. How many other clients or competitors do you want finding out about it before upper management can start damage control?

And your friend should already be considering an escape plan, if thats possible.

My friend is an on-site tech support guy for a European mail machine company and the client is a large bank known for its relatively poor customer service. He is somewhat worried because his boss's relationship with the client was contentious at times, and they are the ones who found out first. Regardless of how my friend personally feels on the issue, he can virtually guarantee they have lost all faith in him. My friend feels that at some point it may be necessary to show the client that he knows what is going on and that his staff has the intention and ability to function without said boss. His boss is the "lead" of his particular site but there are regional managers and other people above said boss.

My friend is trying really hard to get out before this blows up but it's rough out there.

Tell him to start looking, and maybe tell his "best" work friend what is going on and let it slowly disseminate from there.

It's all public info, so there are no legal ramifications.

BoxheadTim wrote: He hasn't been found guilty of said crimes, has he? So presumed innocent until found guilty should still apply. Given that these are allegations that can destroy a person in short order I think I would be very careful with mentioning that to anybody.

This, but he wouldnt be my first choice as a babysitter.

I am not sure what the legal ramifications are about all this. But look at it this way, if this boss cannot do his job because of his legal issues, he needs to be replaced. Somebody should bring up his frequent absences to HR. A boss that cannot do his job is no boss

Datsun1500 wrote: Personally I think a child molester can not be cured and deserves everything that they get.

I am not one for advocating "eye for eye" justice.. but you are right about molesters havinf something very wrong with their brain wiring. Castration might be the best therepy.

I personally think something happened to my niece at the hands of one of my Sister's ex-boyfriends. She won't talk about it.. but even mentioning his name scares her to death, shuts her down, and all but sends he off crying. Even seeing a jeep like he drove can make her panic

If the clients already know, there's no need to go into details of the allegations with them. Your friend could discreetly make it known to the client that he's aware of some problems with his boss that will likely result in the boss's termination, and that your friend and his staff have the ability and intent to carry on unimpeded without the boss.

That's all anybody needs to know at this point, including your friend's fellow employees. Word may get around, but your friend doesn't need to be involved in rumor mill.

Given the serious nature of the charges and being public record it shouldn't take much time till it makes the news if it hasn't already. In my smaller 'burgh that story wouldn't just make the police blotter but would be page one below the fold or page two at least, ymmv. Add the old rumor mill and that bosses superiors may already know.

Allegations or not, his frequent continued absences should be enough to talk to the higher ups about getting him out. That way, yo.. er.. your friend.. won't have to discuss the charges.

Said boss has a pretty long leash and permission from the brass to "work from home" whenever he desires so I doubt barking up the corporate ladder will help much, especially since the boss is in the pocket of his immediate higher up and was being groomed for a promotion as far as I know. He has said that his boss knows about his absences, which could be a bluff but could also be true. My, uh, friend was just informed that he is going to be at work today and in sporadically as time goes on. It'll be hard to keep a poker face, that's for sure.

Just make sure "his boss" stays out of St Louis. We got nuff of them.

I would definitely NOT spread around the knowledge at this point in the game or convict this guy in the court of public opinion. Both methods can have a sever blow-back on "your friend" even if the guy is eventually found guilty and subsequently fired. It's not your friend's job to inform everyone, clients included, to the situation at hand.

That said, ostensibly at least part of your friend's job is to keep the business functioning and profitable. If you approach the higher-ups with the attitude of "I'm aware of the situation and how can I help keep the client?", rather than "I know what this guy did and what are you going to do about it?", then it should potentially reflect better on the messenger. Especially if the boss is a favorite up-the-chain.

Oh, yea. Claim as much ignorance as you need. If its not your business, don't make it.

This guy hasn't been convicted of anything. Keep your nose out of it.

rotard wrote: This guy hasn't been convicted of anything. Keep your nose out of it.

This. Your pal needs to STFU, keep his nose clean and let the 5-0 handle this.

Something to consider: if he manages to squeak out of this your pal would be in deep dookie if it were to somehow get out that he had been discussing this kind of stuff.

it would be a shame if someone was to accidentally hit the "share with all" button when they were sending an email to a coworker about this...

Personally, I don't think it is appropriate unless/until he is found guilty.

Things get around offices quick. At one of my old companies a supervisor in another department was moonlighting as a gay porn model word spread really quick once someone knew he quit and never even cleared his desk. Not even the picture of the wife and kids.

Matt B wrote: That said, ostensibly at least part of your friend's job is to keep the business functioning and profitable. If you approach the higher-ups with the attitude of "I'm aware of the situation and how can I help keep the client?", rather than "I know what this guy did and what are you going to do about it?", then it should potentially reflect better on the messenger. Especially if the boss is a favorite up-the-chain.

This. It is only your business to the degree that it effects your work situation. It sounds as though the stress of the allegations (innocent or guilty) are effecting his performance at work and the environment for his subordinates. If it is effecting your friends work environment, it is worth making your concerns known up the chain of command.

Perhaps phrase it like, "I have heard [client] comment about his concerns over the situation with [boss], and want to be sure we can do something to keep [client] happy." That way the higher ups see the client as the source of friction, not your friend.

In reply to Datsun1500: I'm not sure I agree with that method of dealing with situations like this. First of all, is everybody charged with a crime automatically guilty and should immediately be fired from their job? Besides, it's not like this particular situation has been "kept quiet". Nobody's shoving this thing under the rug if they went so far as to charge his son with obstruction of justice. This guy is obviously in hot water one way or another and it's not the water-cooler brigade or even HR's job to declare him guilty.

I'd like to think that's what we have our court system for, flawed as it is.

Now if he can't perform his job appropriately, then that's another story...

About the lawsuit bit - I can't say it's not possible, because IMHO our society is waaaay too litigious. I think it is a lot more job-and-situation specific though. If the business was a day-care facility, then yeah he has to go. I'll admit that a lot of my ideal-society values get thrown out the window when there is a direct correlation between crime and the job/situation at hand, especially where kids are involved. If the business has nothing to do with the nature of the charge, then I'm not sure I see where somebody could file a suit.

I'm probably wrong though, somebody could probably sue for at least a few hundred thousand for "making them feel icky" or something like that.

Datsun1500 wrote:

Mmadness wrote: Personally, I don't think it is appropriate unless/until he is found guilty.

Would you let him watch your kids? He hasn't been found guilty of anything.

Hell no. But I can refuse to let him babysit all I want without ruining his life if he turns out to be innocent.

People like this rely on others keeping quiet. If he got accused of shoplifting, it would be common knowledge. Since its a sex crime, people keep quiet.

If it were shoplifting, it would generate a response of "Weird. Wonder why he'd do something like that?" and folks might look at him askance. With this, his life would be pretty much ruined by the allegation, regardless of whether or not it was true.

The legal process is underway. You can't get a conviction any faster or get a harsher sentence by spreading rumors. Unless the coworkers or clients are hiring him for daycare, I don't see where there's much of anything to be gained, but there's the possibility of a tremendous injustice.

To it's logical conclusion, should we just immediately chuck anybody who's ever accused, by anybody, under any circumstances, of certain crimes directly in prison and skip the whole trial thing?

I'd be very concerned about this guy. But you can't go ruining people's lives because of the word on the street...