Company boss ignores months of warnings then blames engineer when disaster strikes, loses talented employee to competitor paying $30k more

There should be a different category for the kind of frustration that comes when your warnings are disregarded and then someone has the audacity to point a finger at you.

You know that feeling when you're riding shotgun and spot an obvious hazard ahead, but the driver's too busy feeling singing along to his obscure music choices to listen? Well, buckle up for a grand prix of corporate cruise control gone wrong, where warnings bounce off the windshield like bugs, and the driver of this particular racecar treats speed bumps like they're just suggestions.

Many of us have been there - finding a potential issue, carefully documenting, sending detailed warnings, and watching helplessly as management steps on the gas, ignoring every red flag. 

So there you are, strapped into your corporate vehicle, watching your boss treat business decisions like they're playing Mario Kart. You've spotted what's clearly a massive speed bump - the kind that makes small cars lose their mufflers - but the driver's acting like he's got diplomatic immunity from the laws of physics.

You drive along watching this obstacle get bigger in the windshield, trying to get boss's attention with increasingly urgent "um, sir?" moments While their foot is firmly planted on the gas.

Then boom! The speed bump sends everything flying. Coffee spills everywhere, quarterly projections scatter across the back seat, and immediately the driver's pointing at you like you personally installed the speed bump overnight.

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Author image for Etai Eshet Etai Eshet
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  • That's exactly what happened here. An engineer spots a serious problem, and does everything right - documentation, emails, detailed reports - the works. Five months pass, and surprise! The exact predicted disaster strikes, with a major client canceling their order. But instead of owning up to ignoring multiple warnings, the company president decides to rewrite history and pin the blame squarely on the person who tried to prevent it.

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  • President of my Company is blaming me for something I warned him about 3 months ago. He now wants to write me up for this same issue.

    "I've been underpaid and overworked for a long time"

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

    Via FoToArtist Ⓜ︎
  • President of my company is an idiot. I brought an issue to his attention in August of last year. Client just cancelled his order yesterday, based on the issue | brought up. Somehow this is now
    Via Moby1313
  • my fault and I'm being thrown under the bus to the business owners. He does not care about the emails I sent him, does not acknowledge my engineering reports, it's my fault. I've been
    Via Moby1313
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  • Our engineer, armed with multiple technical skills and years of experience handling complex projects, decided to go for a test drive and, spoiler alert: turns out, they've been seriously underpaid. $30k kind of seriously if you don’t mind, and that was the reality break-check where they drew the line.

  • applying for jobs all night and I am getting responses almost immediately. I have mad skills, engineering, manufacturing, product development, software development, random hard stuff nobody wants to do...and I'm
    Via Moby1313
  • people in my industry that have my skill set. Applied for a job at 30K more, phone rang 10 mins later, on Saturday at 8pm. I've been under paid and overworked for a long time.
    Via Moby1313
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  • buzz_buzzing_buzzed Congrats on the new job. Forward the warning emails to everyone on the way out. (And bcc them to yourself too.)
    Via Moby1313
  • SPEED HUMP AHEAD
    Via Robin Jonathan Deutsch
  • ReeveStodgers hope you finally get paid closer to your worth! It's unsurprising that a company that undervalued your advice also didn't pay you at your skill level.
    Via Moby1313
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  • Now, sitting on a goldmine of documented warnings, a stack of job opportunities, and judging by the comments on their story–various retaliation options that go from passive-aggressive cruise to full-throttle sinister for their departure. 

  • itsalongwalkhome Sounds like the business owners are being told a different story. Email them copies of the emails you sent your boss.
    Via itsalongwalkhome
  • Your boss may not care because he wants to stick to his story with them, but they sure will care if the boss is lying to them.
    Via itsalongwalkhome
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  • ThisisTophat Get the new job. And if you're feeling vengeful be sure to leave a resignation email with all of your past warnings attached with the dates included. Don't even say anything about them. Just leave the proof and never talk to them again.
    Via ThisisTophat
  • abercrombezie With your new job lined up without him knowing, I'd meet him in person and demand that he reconsider his writeup, give you a formal apology in writing, and request a huge pay bump for the stress he caused you. Once he tells you to f off, then just walk out the office.
    Via abercrombezie
  • 62628
    Via Shahzin Shajid
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  • Strangr_E If you have a paper trail of evidence that you did in fact warn him and he dismissed you and you have it on paper that you were written up for the same issue, I'd suggest calling up the labor board or seek legal counsel.
    Via Strangr_E
  • Edit: Also don't sign anything with that write up. It can be used as a way of you you admitting wrongdoing.
    Via Strangr_E
  • DMV Lolli If you land a job, type up your resignation letter on a forward of the email you sent warning of the issue and CC everybody including the boss's boss.
    Via DMV_Lolli
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  • Moby1313 OP Write up means I'm walking out. I'm an engineer, told my boss. If I get written up, I walk. Whole business is tanked
    Via Moby1313
  • climbamtn1 I warned my boss co worker was forwarding email that had a virus. IT manager was on vacation so i forwarded email from coworker (that contains virus) to my boss with warning not to open attachment.
    Via climbamtn1
  • When IT manager comes back all PC's had to be wiped and I was blamed not the originator who mass emailed to everyone. I was gonna fight unemployment denial but just found better job instead. Happy ending that place went out of business within a year.
    Via climbamtn1
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  • TriGurl Well, then it will be great for the business owners to read the initial emails that you sent to the president warning him This issue would happen. And you'll be able to point out the time and date stamp, and that the negligence was due to the president lack of action.
    Via TriGurl
  • LachlanGurr All that's left is to have a savage meeting with HR on your last day before your start your new job. Make it hurt!
    Via LachlanGurr
  • Shotgun Betty01 At an old job, the CEO who instructed our department to do something which I brought up multiple times as ill advised, then later tried to blame us in an all hands meeting with operations. He said "I don't know, I'll have to look into why we did that." I said "WE did that because WE were told to do that." Stfu
    Via ShotgunBetty01
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  • va_wanderer As I found out at one point, if you spot an issue and call it out, keep every record of that call out you can because when sh.. hits the fan, they WILL blame the person who spotted the issue and not the one that let it go to pieces in the first place.
    Via va_wanderer
  • At one point, it saved me a job I actually loved and got five other people fired (who had tried to throw me under the bus) from theirs. Enjoy the jump to something better!
    Via va_wanderer
  • CyberMonkeyNinja Don't get trapped in the engineering trap of thinking logically. Business is not about logical decisions and profitable outcomes. It is about social status and control. The boss can not be
    Via CyberMonkeyNinja
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  • wrong or they lose social status. Social status is more important than facts. He needed you to fall on the sword like a good soldier to protect his status and you responded with facts. Now you are a threat to his status and must be destroyed. Get out you are doing the right thing.
    Via CyberMonkeyNinja
  • VB_Creampie Save to a usb and print your emails of your warnings before you alert the owners or anyone else. Your boss could quite easily go in or have someone go in and delete things you've sent. Especially if it's all server based emails and cloud storage (like OneDrive) etc
    Via VB_Creampie

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