"Cooking"

My friend works in the finance department. She says that there is some crazy financing going on and she wants out before the shit hits the fan and she becomes an accessory. Any suggestions?

Soaring Eagle

Dear "Soaring Eagle",

Has this letter been lost in cyber-space for a year or more? It sounds like it could have come from an Enron employee.

If there is any possibility that what you call "crazy financing" is criminal behaviour, your friend should immediately contact her own lawyer and get advice on her legal exposure. She may be an accesory already.

If the activity in the finance department does amount to fraud or theft or another offence your friend's lawyer can counsel her on how to proceed in a way that will minimize her own risk of criminal prosecution and fulfill her moral obligation to report the offending behaviour.

Perhaps the "crazy financing" is not illegal, but is still so unorthodox that your friend does not want to be a continuing part of the organization. Then by all means she should leave.

She may want to do so by stating her reasons for resigning, if she feels some obligation to draw attention to the behaviour that concerns her. She will need to weigh the impact that this will have on her own career and consider whether it will go any distance towards alerting others to the potential scandal.

As a rule of thumb I would advise any employee who has an uneasy feeling about the ethics of things that are going on in their workplace to ask questions and consult with others about those activities.

If they satisfy themselves that their instincts are mistaken and nothing untoward is happening, then that resolves the matter.

But if they find out that other people feel uneasy as well, or that company policy or professional conduct guidelines are being infringed or the law is being breached, then they should act on that finding, by reporting the behaviour to superiors or outside authorities, and be prepared to look for other work.

Thanks for writing.

Dr. John

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