My company is doing certain things illegally, what should I do?

Talk to a lawyer. Then you'll know for sure about your exposure and all of your options.

But my best advice is to get out of there. Even if you don't have any personal liability, you don't want to be mixed up with dishonest people.

I'm not a lawyer, but I believe that you'd have to be very directly, overtly, and intentionally involved in any illegal activity to be personally liable for anything. If you're not an officer, you probably don't have much to worry about as far as legal liability in this case.

That said, if you think things are going to go badly, get out now. Better to line up another gig ASAP than to find yourself without a job when things go down. Also, it will be easier to get hired somewhere else before the name of your company is tarnished.

What types of issues are you talking about? It's easy to accuse of fraud and racketeering but what are the real issues.

Thank you, and I will be talking to an attorney about it this evening.

I just moved to a new city and this position paid better than any of my other options and allowed for travel as well. I'm not in a financial situation where I can just stop showing up, but I'm also worried that once these lawsuits become public knowledge my resume might be scrutinized.

On top of it all, I have a moral dilemma about some of our clients. They have no idea what is going on (yet) and I feel terrible about it.

Running credit cards without authorization.

Providing false information to the federal government.

Mail fraud.

The worst is that I have heard one of my superiors (a managing partner) blatantly lie to clients about his education/professional title.

My bosses have been great to me personally, but now I worry that they might just be buying my loyalty.

My stress and paranoia are very high. I am planning on getting out, I just need help getting out in the safest way possible.

Are you willing to enter the witness relocation program?

Are you posting from a work computer or device?

Are you prepared to live life from inside of a dome? Have your brain transcribed to a computer and have your actions performed by a clone? Are you ready to saw off your own foot? What would you do if someone gave you a hammer and for every tooth you knock out of a stranger's face you get to live another day?

When you can answer these questions, WITH THE CORRECT ANSWERS, and live your answers out, maybe you will be ready to leave this company.

Sounds like a financial services job (I.e. insurance sales disguised as investment professionals). All the companies do it so don't worry. Companies account for contingent liabilities.

Master Kan wrote:

Are you prepared to live life from inside of a dome? Have your brain transcribed to a computer and have your actions performed by a clone? Are you ready to saw off your own foot? What would you do if someone gave you a hammer and for every tooth you knock out of a stranger's face you get to live another day?

When you can answer these questions, WITH THE CORRECT ANSWERS, and live your answers out, maybe you will be ready to leave this company.

+1

Excellent response, probably the only one that might actually help this fellow. However, I would take it a step further and suggest that he find success on the underground hip-hop scene before he considers finding work elsewhere.

Bail. Find another job.

hart crane wrote:

My stress and paranoia are very high. I am planning on getting out, I just need help getting out in the safest way possible.

I doesn't sound like you yourself have done anything illegal, so your priority ought to be getting out as fast as you can -- this is not an environment you want to remain in for a minute longer than you have to.

Furthermore, depending on the scale and the gravity of the acts being committed, you might want to consider contacting the authorities and acting as a whistleblower.

I want to get out as quietly as possible. I'm up for a review for a 401k and benefits this week. I may just turn it down and tell them "the industry" is not for me and leave at the end of the month.

"The Industry" is based in Colorado for what it's worth. Nothing to do with insurance.

hart crane wrote:

I have been with this company for three months. I politely questioned some of their practices during my first few weeks and was told "this is just how business works."

BBB complaints have turned into lawsuits and I know that more are on the way. This is more than just small claims, too. Words like "fraud" and "racketeering" are being thrown around.

Can I get in any trouble if I continue working with the company knowing that the poop could hit the proverbial fan any week now?

Any advice helps. Thanks.

1) Crime does not make for a stable long term career. Yes-- it is possible to get away with one or two crimes, but multiple crimes over long times always blow up.

2) That means that your current job is not secure, regardless of how hard you work, how determined you are, how much everyone likes you, etc. Their misbehavior can blow up in your face at any time.

3) In light thereof, your should be looking for a new job right now.

4) In terms of finding a new job-- leaving immediately after arrival does not look great, but it is much, much better than working there for 2-3 years and then having your name and reputation smeared when the thing blows up. Unless you are on Wall Street, people in an industry are pretty reticent to hire others from companies that have a reputation for bad deeds.

5) Talk to your lawyer about whether you should or even have to take any other action. Whistleblowing sounds great and idealistic but in practice it sucks. That said, you might be a professional of some sort and have no choice but to report.

6). Good luck.

This situation is very much like the recent bunch of football games and the ref's calls. It may seem like the only reason the Colts managed to score at all was that the refs gave them many bad calls, but, it might turn out that for that drive they were using an under inflated football.

Things like lying about credentials are a grey area. For example, you can verbally lie but if the correct fact is buried in a mound of paperwork, you are covered.

Many companies stretch the truth. Then pay lawyers to keep them safe long enough for the CEO to get their golden parachutes. Sometimes, this is not a bad thing because if the CEO went to trial and got off, they would end up at another company and do the same thing.

Look hart crane you need to put them on blast your fellow Let's runners may be getting their robbed by these pimps and mack daddys. Tell us who they are man.......take one for the Let's Run Team and your fellow Americans who work hard for their money to be getting Pimped Swiped!

Snitches get ditches

LOL....

Sounds like you are in the legal marijuana business.