Would you help a friend if it put your job in jeopardy?

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[City Builder]

Heres something that's come up in my life right now and while my heart says to help, my head says not to for fear of losing my own employment....  It goes something like this.

One of the auto dealers that I work for asked me to help them to clean up another one of their stores warranty problems.  I agreed to check into it and see what I could do.

I went to the store to talk to my friend who is the service director and request some paperwork but he was off on a vacation day which he takes as single days off so as to never be away from the store for more than one day at a ttime.  Anyway he wasn't there so I left a note with the schedule (schedule lists all outstanding repair orders, how much money is owed to them from the auto mfg etc) asking that they pull (go to the file room and physically pull each ) repair order for my viewing.  I left my note with the parts manager (also a friend of mine).

Well several days had past and my friend the service director called me and left a voice mail message saying that they didn't need my services right now but would call me in the future if they did.

Next thing I know it's one week later and they fired my friend the service director, saying something to the extent that I physically requested him to pull all the repair orders for me and that he outright refused to do so and was subordinate to me.  Im not even an employee with this corporation Im only a contracted labor, and Im certainly not his boss so Im not sure how he could have been subordinate to me.

In any event they fired him.  Today I get a call from someone at the other auto dealer asking me to call my friend  and that he wants to talk to me.

So I call him up and had an interesting chat with him and he's asked me to write a letter on what transpired on the day that I visited the dealer which would simply say something like:


To whom it may concern,

On or about (insert date here) I went to the Volvo store on the request of our accounting offices manager to see what I could do towards cleaning up their warranty and when I arrived I foun that the service director was out on vacation so I left a note on a current schedule requesting that every Repair Order that was over 10 days old be pulled so that I could view them.

Several days later I received a voice mail message from the service director informing me that they didn't at this time have use for my services but would call me if anything changed.

That was the extent of my visit to the Volvo store and my contact with the service director.

Sincerely,
bla bla bla

Okay so now you look at that and think, how can that get you fired?  Well basically the general manager of this store used me as an excuse (none of us know why, this guy was a great service director) to fire the service director.  By him telling the director that he was insubordinate to me, and that he refused to pull any repair orders that I requested and bla bla bla.  None of which even occured.

So my fear of losing my own job comes in that my letter would basically contradict what the general manager wrote on the termination papers for the service director and since Im still a contractor for their honda store I think that leaves me in a vunerable position towards getting rid of me too which they can do at a moments notice without severance pay and without any form of advance warning.  They don't even need a reason to stop using my services, they can just say they don't wish to use my service any longer and that's it.

So, Im not sure what to do, write the letter or not write the letter and let my friends lifetime career pretty much go down the toilet because this is a very large corporation that we are talking about and they own most of the Volvo dealership anywhere close to where my friend lives, so it's not like he can go get a job at one of the other stores, he'd have to travel possibly hundreds of miles to find a store not owned by them and which might have a position as manager for him.

I really feel for him but Im torn about this, I mean honestly I can't afford to even lose one dealership, (losing one dealership could be the difference of paying our rent or living on the streets somewhere) as it is now Im barely edging by every month, I've had to use up most of my savings while business has been slow the past 7 or 6 months, so if they stopped using me I'd be in a real hell hole.  But on the other hand I've known my friend for more than 20 years and I hat to see an injustice such as this and while iM not taking sides, I don't want my letter being the one that wins him hundreds of thousands of dollars but chances that they no longer need my services at the other stores.


And lastly, I do smell a law suit stemming from this wrongful fireing of him.  I think he's getting all his ducks in a row so that he can sue the corporation for "wrongfully" firing him if tht's even possible now adays, I don't know the laws are so much more in favor of the big companes then the little guy, but I mean it could be that my little letter is the difference between him getting his job back or somewhere else, or in winning a court case or whatever, it sounds as if it could help him since it totally contradicts what the general manager put down on the termination paper.

The one funny thing about this is that when the GM was firing him, and told him that he was insubordinate to me, my friend looked him square in the eyes and said, "why would I do that, We've been friends for more than 20 years now, he and his wife and their parents and I go out to dinner when we're all in town, we are the closest of friends", to which the GM had no response, but immediately shut up and got a look on his face according to my friend of "oh [*******], I should have checked this out first".
What to do, what to do.

[MaxBeta]

Sorry to hear you have been put into such a position.. I'll say to you what I would my kids.. OK?

CB.. I can only say that long time friends in any circumstance shouldn't make requests which might put your own livelihood in jeopardy.  I have much of my family in the Auto/dealership business.. hard/slow times make GM's a bit nervous...so these things happen.  So do what is best for you..as there's no guarantees the right thing would turn out no matter whether your friend has as "written" assistance's from you or anyone...well maybe God even then I don't know for sure.  From what I see..and my opinion is..you and your friend should preserve your friendship by not trying to increase or create more issues.. for each of yourselves.

I figure you'll worry no matter what, which is to be expected.  But from my experience in the labor legalese ..it is possible the "at will " employer/employee status which allows a "boss" to terminate any employee for any reason..or no reason as it often happens without retribution.  Most times an amount of time is usually given..but it isn't a required precedent.. for example the recent Airline closure.. those folks had no warning. 

I hope you can manage to survive and bolster your livelihood..as I know the auto market is not on fire.. so try to weather it with the rest of the people who do what you do.. good help is so hard to find nowadays.

PM me if you have any specifics to ask.. remember I'm retired now 

 

[katmandu2]

Sorry to hear you have been put into such a position.. I'll say to you what I would my kids.. OK?

MaxBeta, how did you get to be so wise?...a great grandpa and a great dad!!!! You must have had some great examples and/or mentors in your past...

.. I can only say that long time friends in any circumstance shouldn't make requests which might put your own livelihood in jeopardy ..you and your friend should preserve your friendship by not trying to increase or create more issues.. for each of yourselves.

MaxBeta is right....that is RULE #1 for any relationship.

...it is possible the "at will" employer/employee status which allows a "boss" to terminate any employee for any reason..or no reason as it often happens without retribution.  Most times an amount of time is usually given..but it isn't a required precedent..

Again, MaxBeta is correct! One thing to keep in mind though is that courts often side with the employee on such issues (at least in Ohio)...in other words, the employer still has to "have all ducks in order" before terminating an employee, or they could face having to reinstate employment or pay a financial settlement to the former employee if the court rules against them.

If your friend feels that he was terminated unjustly, then I would suggest he seek legal council.  In order to protect yourself (and your friend, for that matter) I would suggest not discussing this situation with each other so that it wouldn't jepardize any future case he may have.

You may also want to document the chain of events FOR YOURSELF ONLY...as time passes, our memories fade, and details can be lost and/or distorted. 

I hope this helps...Kat