Expected donation to customer "retirment fund"
Expected donation to customer "retirment fund"
(OP)
Hypothetically, whats the ethical response for this situation:
A customer employee that hired "consultant A" is being forced into retiring from his position by his company. The customer employee suggests using his influence to steer a final project to "consultant A" during his last days, and that both he and "consultant A" could each profit nicely from the project after customer employee retires.
Customer employee has also recently been reminding "consultant A" how he has "helped" him by giving him work. However, "consultant A" feels he has given exceptional service for a fair price on all his work up till this time.
Accepting the project is obviously NOT even remotely a consideration for "consultant A".
What is the appropriate response from "consultant A"
1) Ignore the customer and hope he goes away
2) Politely but firmly tell him "no, it's not ethical"
3) Report him to the customers corporate engineering department, or HR department. Consider also that there is no proof of the allegation.
4) Both 2 and 3.
I don't know if it matters, but consider that the guy will be gone in a couple of months anyway.
A customer employee that hired "consultant A" is being forced into retiring from his position by his company. The customer employee suggests using his influence to steer a final project to "consultant A" during his last days, and that both he and "consultant A" could each profit nicely from the project after customer employee retires.
Customer employee has also recently been reminding "consultant A" how he has "helped" him by giving him work. However, "consultant A" feels he has given exceptional service for a fair price on all his work up till this time.
Accepting the project is obviously NOT even remotely a consideration for "consultant A".
What is the appropriate response from "consultant A"
1) Ignore the customer and hope he goes away
2) Politely but firmly tell him "no, it's not ethical"
3) Report him to the customers corporate engineering department, or HR department. Consider also that there is no proof of the allegation.
4) Both 2 and 3.
I don't know if it matters, but consider that the guy will be gone in a couple of months anyway.





RE: Expected donation to customer "retirment fund"
Contrast that with this case:
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Employee J extorts some consideration from Vendor C in exchange for recommending adoption of their product by J's employer. Which happens.
Some time later, Vendor C goes bankrupt, and is for a time run by a Court. An officer of the Court finds an entry in Vendor C's books, that identifies the bribe as such, and identifies the recipient.
The Court, as it is ethically obligated to do, having found proof, notifies J's employer, who forces him into immediate early retirement.
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Back to your hypothetical:
His employer already knows the guy is a sleaze; that's why the retirement is not voluntary. Nothing you could say would be news to them.
The guy knows enough to be dangerous to the employer's interests; that's why they didn't just fire him.
You don't want to get into any kind of contest with the guy; he's probably very good at slinging, er, stuff.
Similarly, you don't want to enter into even an honest relationship with this guy, because of the potential damage to you when things go bad.
Option 1 is all that remains. Just be unavailable.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Expected donation to customer "retirment fund"
TTFN
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RE: Expected donation to customer "retirment fund"
I can't see a problem with accepting the project, it's the 'each profiting nicely' part that is unethical. If Consultant A's price is fair and there are no kickbacks, then the job is legit.
RE: Expected donation to customer "retirment fund"
Ergo, once employee sleaze has gone they may start to replace all their consultants (maybe and maybe not including consultant J).
Hence, you might, without evidence, seek and off the record discussion with the employee's employer or consultant A may find soon that there is no work for him/her.
So, the easy option is to keep quiet and hope the employee may go quietly which might be unlikely, he may decide to drop any non-co-operating consultants in the doo doo.
This is now not about ethics but survival.
If consultant A decides to have an off the record discussion and once tentatively embarked on the subject listens carefully for signs that this is a not unexpected development, then go for broke. It is possible that the employer may decide that the employee was a sleaze but that it didn't extend throughout his consultants. They may accept that his swan song was to try and corrupt as many consultants as he could.
Employee Sleaze is on the way out. It is doubtful if the employer wants it to get any messier (it may not do his relations with his clients any good) but he does need some way to judge his consultants and if in doubt, cut them out.
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Expected donation to customer "retirment fund"
This guy has probably done this sort of thing before, so just simple guilt by association could kill your future relationship with the company.
TTFN
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RE: Expected donation to customer "retirment fund"
Chances are others already know what you are just discovering about this man's character and practices. Distance is your friend, more is better. Sleep with the pigs, smell like the pigs.
I agree that a quiet "pass" is the best way to go.
RE: Expected donation to customer "retirment fund"
perception of a bribe will be seen as a bribe in everyone else's eyes...bribes are associated with crooks...therefore, the consultant (even if they do nothing wrong) may be perceived to be a crook. and as we all know, perception is reality.
RE: Expected donation to customer "retirment fund"
If accepting the work is not remotely a possiblity
"I'm sorry we can't do that work at this time" with as little explanation as possible would be my vote. Don't ignore, and especially don't preach, that way theres no prompting to try to take them down as well...
My thoughts only (free advice is worth what you pay for it).
SLH
RE: Expected donation to customer "retirment fund"
Robert Mote
www.motagg.com
RE: Expected donation to customer "retirment fund"
By having your boss contact hois boss, you haven't gone over his head and now the project is out of his control and (hopefully) in a more ethical setting.
RE: Expected donation to customer "retirment fund"
RE: Expected donation to customer "retirment fund"
RE: Expected donation to customer "retirment fund"
Sleezy employee has had the past opportunities to deliver some of the contracts and this time seeks to defraud the company with consultant "A's" co-operation but "A" doesn't want to get burned.
"A" may get burned simply by past association and not get any more contracts no matter whether from sleazy employee or anyone else unless "A" can distance himself.
Unlike the court system where "innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt" apples, this is a case where guilt by association may be the rule.
What to do? Nothing is not an option unless "A" doesn't expect any more work from the company. It depends on what the company knows, what it thinks it knows, what it suspects or what it feels might be a reasonable expectation.
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Expected donation to customer "retirment fund"
Later, customer said he was just kidding.
RE: Expected donation to customer "retirment fund"
This leads one to expect that Consultant "A" ought to get any future business that is going with this company, so do come back and tell us if consultant "A" later discovers that for some reason, once sleaze has gone, he no longer gets any work from the company when he expected that he should.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
(Edmund Burke)
Doing, effectively, nothing, may not be the best thing for consultant "A".
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com