Damn cheap-ass employers. (Mild, 'cause I've come to expect it)

The BBQ Pit
1

A little background- Microbug and I have just recently moved to a small town in Oregon, since I got a job offer here. The job’s really nice, but there aren’t a lot of jobs here for her to do. She managed to find one, though, in her field (microbiology). It doesn’t pay much, but then not a lot, here, does. Still, with her paycheck and mine, we’re doing pretty well for money.

Well, she went out of town last night, to finally train for the job she’s been doing the past few weeks. Better late than never, right?

She called me this morning to tell me she’s going to quit.

There’s a particular test that her lab has to run. They have to be able to run this test, to keep their state certification. Unfortunately, they don’t really have the equipment to run this test… so she’s been told to just fake the results.

This is for a state-certified test- if it’s found out that she cheats on this test, it’s conceivable that she could be sued by the people she’s done the water testing for, or prosecuted by the state for falsifying the results.

Of course, she’s never been told in writing to falsify the results- just verbally. And since she’s the “lab director” (funny, since she’s the only one working in the lab), she’s the one that’ll be held responsible- and with no paper trail, it’ll be hard for her to prove that she was told to do it.

There aren’t a lot of jobs available here for her. The competition would be a pretty good bet… except that she had to sign a non-compete agreement to get THIS job, so she can’t work for the competition for a year.

So… she’s going to be looking for work again. Dammit. And we were just getting to the point where money wasn’t a constant concern.

I’d like to say I’m angry at her employer, but I’m just coming to expect this sort of shit.

2

Depending on her exact field, there may be whistleblower protection laws for employees who notify the proper authorities of fraudulant or dangerous practices.

I work in a lab as well, and we have stuff posted everywhere with numbers to call regarding unsafe or illegal situations, but I’m in Ohio and the laws are likely different. Regardless, perhaps this is something she could consider?

3

She should demand it in writing, and make it clear that if her employer is not able to fulfill his obligations, the non-compete agreement is null and void. There must be some legal way to enforce this.

4

She may have heard of Walkerton, Ontario, where seven people died from tainted water. I think she has a responsibility to do more than just quit; water testing is pretty serious stuff.

5

Damn, what an untenable situation! Screw the non-compete agreement! What the employer is asking her to do is, at best, unethical and at worst, illegal. Take this to the authorities via a whistle-blowing protection route.

I was once in training to be a salesman. The sales manager told me point blank, “Don’t tell the customer the truth! Tell them what they want to hear!”
I quit that day.

Your wife’s situation is worse, by far, because of the legal ramificationsof what they are asking her to do.

6

She has to ask for that order in writing or else it’s time to blow the whistle.

Haj

7

Sounds like she ought to make the boss repeat that request while she’s “wearing a wire”.

8

I’m not sure this is a good whistle-blower situation; the lab she works in is very small- really, just her and one other guy. If her employer gets into trouble for this, it’s likely the lab will just be shut down. There’s no way a whistle-blower type of case can protect her from that, is there?

Plus, the other guy is going to be screwed. And, like I said, jobs are pretty scarce here.

I am hoping that the situation will void the non-compete… but that doesn’t mean she’ll even be offered a job at the competition.

9

Would the lab shutting down void her non-compete clause? I would assume that the competition would then get a jump up in business, perhaps even to the point where they would need to hire someone.

FTR, I’m not going to shed a tear for a lab shutting down when that lab is falsifying their tests. Oh, and this entire situation sucks eggs… I hope it all works out.

10

As a frequent client at water testing laboratories, I would thank Microbug from the bottom of my heart if she were to blow the whistle on the lab. And although I’m not a lawyer, I’m sure that being ordered to break the law would be grounds to negate the non-compete agreement. Can you talk to an atttorney about the situation? At the very least he or she could shed some light on the validity of the agreement.

I hope everything works out for both of you.

11

I tracked down and talked to the people in the certifying agency this afternoon- they’re VERY interested in talking to Microbug. Apparently it’s a very big deal- her lab is supposed to be sending the samples away to the parent lab for that particular test, but according to Microbug, that’s not being done.

She’s going to talk to the people tomorrow.

I told her who I’d talked to, and how excited they were to talk to her, and she said, “Oh God, what have you gotten me into?” :smack:

-Lightnin’, forever tilting at windmills

12

Tell her she might be saving people’s lives.