Ethical dilemma here. To dob or not to dob.

In My Humble Opinion
1

I work for a one-man-owned company, of which The Man is an incredibly upright and scrupulously honest dude. I have nothing but the utmost respect for him, both as an employer, and as a regular human being.

One of the more senior staff (in seniority, not age) has been been dumb enough to be less than-secretive about his non-work-related activities…to whit, dealing illegal drugs. To my knowledge, he has not attempted to sell drugs to staff, but he has done so in public venues where staff members (especially young ones) have been present. Thus his role as a ‘senior’ has been compromised because (from what I’ve heard on the ‘grapevine’) nobody will take him ‘seriously’ as an authority figure anymore anyway.

The Dumb-Arse has been working for the company for the same time as I have. He was channelled into a senior role because of his committment and his ethics. Me, I thought he was just a bum-licker, but it obviously got him places, so who am I to challenge his methods!! :smiley:

My problem is, given that Mr Dumb Arse is conducting his extra-curricular business in PUBLIC VENUES, and that if he is arrested and charged, the chances are that such notoriety will come back on the company and the Boss, should I warn them?
*
Some things to note:*

As I mentioned, from what I know he is not dealing on company time.

I am not after his job…I already have enough seniority in the company to suit my income and lifestyle choices.

His ‘activities’ have become the laughing stock of all the floor staff, thus he cannot do his actual job effectively.

My main concern is for my boss. He would be devastated if he found out. However, I’m wondering whether it is better for him to find out before Mr Dumb Arse gets arrested and charged (it’s only a matter of time, given his lack of care for where and who he sells drugs to) or later, when the company and the charities we represent get hauled because of the notoriety.

Should I just shut the hell up ('cos it’s none of my business, really) or be a whistleblower (because I like my boss, and want to have a job to go to if and when Mr Dumb Arse gets himself arrested)?

2

Dob. If the news is spreading, he’d find out soon anyway. You’d be helping your boss out, here.

3

For something this serious I’d tell the boss straight away. Or the police.

4

Because I haven’t actually witnessed his trade, I would be loathe to tell the police to be perfectly honest!!

In terms of my boss-man though, I am still fraught with confusion as to whether ‘dobbing’ is a good idea, or something that is going to be pointless in the long run. For example, can a boss sack a worker because of heresay evidence?

Interesting stuff indeed.

5

Depends what those new employment regulations over your way say.

6

I should have said, SHOULD a boss sack a worker because of heresay evidence, not as to whether they are legally entitled to do so or not.

7

Ah. (I’d heard your regs were kinda draconian, so I thought maybe …) Should hearsay evidence be the reason to fire someone? I’d say not. And it depends on your regs over there how messy it would get if your boss did do that.

8

Call me a cynic, but I’m going to file this one under: “No good deed goes unpunished”

Your heart may be in the right place but you may wind up “complicating” your own life. For a number of reasons.

9

If you didn’t witness it and even if you did, but aren’t 100% sure of just what transpired, I would say nothing. I would also keep alert to the guy’s actions, and once he does try to sell at work etc–then I would speak up.
Hearsay is not enough, IMO. (don’t know your laws, but if it is enough, what’s to stop someone with an agenda to do someone else down that way?)

10

Go at it from the other end. Approach Mr DA and tell him that you are horrified to hear that he is being openly slandered by junior staff who are saying that he is openly dealing drugs in public, there is even talk that some of the staff have tipped off Crime Stoppers. Is he aware of this? What does he think can be done? Should you go and discuss it with the boss in case the Crime Stoppers rumour is true?

11

Aussies don’t dob.
Still having said that, let me say this.
If you have genuine concerns that this guys in dealing, then dob him in to all and sundry.
Dealing drugs is one thing an Aussie should dob on.

12

You can generally fire most types of workers for just about any reason or no reason at all in the vast majority of the U.S. Exceptions would mainly be with people that have a union contract or so other kind of contract but most people don’t.

I doubt I would tell. Various members of my family were accused if dealing drugs when I was growing up including my mother who was an uber-responsible and respected teacher. Nothing ever came of it because it wasn’t true but I am still skeptical when I hear such claims. It is possible that the story is completely wrong. Maybe someone is actively trying to slander him and doing a convincing job. Probably not but you never know.

I probably wouldn’t say anything just because I am that way and because you don’t actually KNOW it. You just heard it a lot of times which does carry some risk of being a big lie. Ever see an episode of Three’s Company?

13

:smack: I see that the OP isn’t in the U.S. so the right to hire and fire at will may not apply like it does in the U.S.

The rest is universal however.

14

I’d be inclined to obey the First Rule Of Fight Club in this situation (The First Rule Of Fight Club is You Do Not Talk About Fight Club. The Second Rule of Fight Club also happens to be You Do Not Talk About Fight Club.)

In short, I’d stay out of it, or at least not mention it to your boss.

When in doubt, deny everything and demand proof- if the fertiliser hits the ventilator, just act shocked and say “Wow, I had no idea!” It’ll work out better in the long run.

Of course, if he starts dealing drugs AT WORK (like, in the Staff Room), then it’s time to think about an anonymous call to CrimeStoppers- but if it’s a small work environment, like you said, I think you need to ask yourself if, in the long run, it actually matters, and more importantly, if the hassles that could result are worth it.

I suspect you’ll find the answer is “Probably Not”, but only you know the specifics…

15

If he hasn’t dealt any drugs while working, and you have not personally seen him doing it, I would not go to your boss, expecially as someone else said it could complicate your life. But if and when he actually does deal anything on the job, his ass is grass. Lol maybe you could recommend an upcoming random drug screening for all employees via an anonymous letter, assuming he takes any as well as deals.

16

I agree with this.

I wouldn’t dob but I might make sure the boss is less sheilded from gossip ;). He should know but I don’t think being a dobber will put you in a good place.

17

It’s Australia mate, no random drug screenings here.

18

I’m 99% sure this is Illegal in Australia. An employer can request a drug test for people they reasonably believe to be under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances at work, but what they do in their own time is their business, and more importantly, you must reasonably believe the person is under the influence- you can’t just randomly make people take drug tests and hope you catch someone here.

Also, the employee can refuse the test. Sure, they might lose their job over it, but if they HAVE been partaking of certain illegal or controlled substances, and they know the test will show this, then they can simply refuse the test and resign.

The laws vary from State to State, though, and I’m not a lawyer. Yet. :smiley:

Usual disclaimer about this not being legal advice, etc etc etc

19

To answer from a seppo perspective, I always give out my correct Date Of Birth. :stuck_out_tongue:

20

I would say to seriously look at dobbing. Your organization relies on charities to operate? If it comes out that an employee of your workplace dealt drugs it would damage the reputation of the business, and the charites would withdraw? Those are a good reason to lean towards dobbing.