Seeking advice -- legal action against employer

**badkuk** · March 10th, 2016 09:57 PM

Hi all,

Some of you may recall that i started a thread about starting a business; consider this thread as part two of an ongoing saga...

Long story short, up until 2 years ago, part of my responsibilities is to make sure our IT infrastructure was adequate. Now, as early as 2013, this "take charge" guy from our head office, out of the blue, suddenly told me that he and his newly formed systems group were going to take over this task. i've dealt with this "take charge" guy in the past -- malabong kausap -- so that early, i suspected he was up to no good. Nonetheless, he outranked me, so i have been giving him my full cooperation since Day 1 at the office.

Fast forward to 2016, 2 years after the "take charge" guy took over the infrastructure duties, i was given a verbal warning. i was told that the head office lost confidence in my capabilities; apparently e mga pinapagawa sa akin dati na hindi ko raw ginagawa, that matagal daw yung response time ko, hindi ko raw pinaprioritize ang ilang trabaho, blah blah blah.

Fortunately, i kept my email. i have since made multiple copies of them, because i have a feeling that things are being railroaded against me. Basically i contested the verbal warning, and, at least in my mind, i was able to refute the allegations one by one. i did this at the start of the week, up to now i have not received one single reply from management:

(Please bear in mind, the infrastructure duties had already been taken off my hands at this point)

1. In 2014, they claimed that i was not able to fix the Wifi problem at our office in timely fashion
-- the email i provided clearly indicated that the problem was addressed within 24 hours.
-- i even have an email confirmation from the actual users that the WiFi had been working after the fix

2. In 2015, they claimed that i wasn't able to resolve internet issues
-- the emails clearly stated that i was able to diagnose that the problem were the WiFi routers, not the internet link per se
-- the problem was fixed within 24 hours of initial report
-- i even have an email confirmation from the actual users that the problem got fixed.

3. This one takes the cake. They claimed that these were clearly part of my responsibilities to take care of the infrastructure, at least between 2014 - 2015
-- i was able to present email that clearly indicated that another person told me in writing that he and his newly formed support group will be taking care of the infrastructure. The two major incidents i mentioned occured about a year after i was told this.
-- i talked to the management here, as early as 2013, about the "take charge guy" taking over the infra duties, and i requested clarification as to what my duties are. Management, never, in two years, did they give me a clear answer.

My concern is that, kung hahayaan ko lang at hindi ako aangal, it would be tantamount to admitting fault. imho if i do that, it will affect my future employment, be it in this company or another, because as far as their version of the truth is concerned, ako ang pumalpak, kaya nila ako nasisante. i'm not sure how hiring is done these days, but they do call up your former employer to request feedback, right? If i get laid off for redundancy, that's one thing: but now they're making it appear that i'm incompetent and irresponsible.

At least in my mind, i had presented clear, written proof(in electronic form) that the allegations were untrue; they, on the other hand, have no proof na pumalpak ako.

As to why they're doing this... i'm guessing the "take charge" guy at our head office wanted to impress the boss by revamping our infrastructure(basically network, wifi, etc), failed to do so in the past 2 years, and then somehow made me the fall guy. i find it very strange that the warning came from our head office, who don't really pass by PH that much.

To me the silence of the management is very ominous: i really feel that they're going to railroad the process. Sa amin, if you get a verbal warning, they would observe your performance for 3-6 months and see if there's any improvement -- my gut instinct tells me i have drastically less time than that...and my gut has been quite accurate as of late. i feel they'll just sit on the case and let the time run out.

So patanong naman: what's the best thing to do in a situation like this? Normally i really wouldn't consider legal action, but i just can't let this one slide. Kukunsulta ba ako sa abogado/law firm first, then hear their recommendation?

tia

**i.am.aids** · March 10th, 2016 10:18 PM

1. Find a new job now. This makes sure you have options whatever happens.
a. Putting you in this situation, they are not worthy of your time and talent.
2. Avoid legal action as much as possible. You may win a battle or two but you will lose the war.
a. HRs are connected. You don't want your name on the black list.
b. Legal action is a long process and requires significant amount of your time, might as well use it in a more productive way.
c. It's easy to win labor arbitration, but take note of point 2.a.
3. Try to get as much as you can from them. 'Redundancy' will require them to give you some additional compensation.
4. Take it easy - hope for the best.

**badkuk** · March 10th, 2016 10:42 PM

To put everything into proper frame, i've been working for the company, with roughly the same responsibilities, since 2001. Sure there were complaints here and there, but a.) they never really gave me long term targets/directives and b.) the two incidents they charged against me were, technically, no longer my responsibility and c.) i/we did take care of those problems, within 24 hours.

i am particularly irritated at the situation, because way before we were heavily using Wifi, i had already raised this issue with my team, superiors, and management that this will become a problem, and presented them with long term fixes, e.g. let's reduce the number of wifi routers and buy only a few but powerful Wifi routers. all these recommendations were ignored up until 2015 when this major project got into serious trouble with their testing.

Ang ginawa ko pa nun, i sat down at the testing area, monitored the performance of the routers, the devices that got disconnected, internet bandwidth consumption, etc. etc. and i proved to them, without a doubt, that the Wifi routers were the problem and they needed to be replaced. In the end we literally ran out, bought high end routers at the mall, and deployed them -- which is what i had been suggesting early on(i presented email proving this btw)

Had they just said outright, you're redundant, we want a fresh team to take over, etc., i would have accepted that. But they want to make me look incompetent/irrresponsible -- i didn't expect they'd stoop that low.

**badkuk** · March 10th, 2016 10:47 PM

sir, gets ko po yung point nyo, HR normally don't want hellraisers, tama man sila or not. But, if i don't fight it, lalabas na sinisante nila ako because i'm incompetent/irresponsible, so bad image pa rin.

btw, this is a relatively low key company, i doubt if our HR is that connected. The company tends to go after new graduates(cheaper kasi)

**BratPAQ** · March 10th, 2016 11:46 PM

di mo ba sila pede unahan ng resign kaysa termination? lets skip the legal action part and go after the legal action. what are your expectations after it? you'll quit the company head up high, the case you won will be your protection/proof to your next employer? are you expecting after the legal battle you will stay at the company and they will start treating you right? that your next evaluation will be fair? you know if you stay in your company after the legal battle everything would be hell from then on.

since as you said its a small company, try mo mag apply sa mga bigger company, a couple of resume here and there, a couple of interview just so that you can feel the water before they throw you outside the boat.

**unmarked** · March 10th, 2016 11:54 PM

It looks like they have been trying to push you out for 2 years na, and you wont budge. Kudos to you.

This makes them go for drastic measures, making something out of thin air. And like the true IT pros that we are, you have covered your bases with your documentation. I hope you have CYA emails lying around. If you do, start saving them. Anything from a simple GOOD JOB BADKUK to a client commendation, save that sh!t. they can't argue with what they told you in the first place, because it is on record. Failure to perform my duties? I thought you said I did a good job, as seen in this email. You lost confidence in me? In this email you said if it wasn't for me this would have gone down in rubble. so on.

careful with HR, they aren't really on your side and you know that.

I don't believe anyone in that team is out to get you. There might be some external pressures. A way out, if you choose not to fight this, while not burning your bridges or getting destroyed via a reference, would be to approach any one from HQ and ask, IF I WERE TO PUT YOU AS A REFERENCE FOR MY NEXT JOB, WOULD IT BE BENEFICIAL TO ME? Honest, straight to the point.. kung i sucker punch ka pa jan then I think its personal na.

hope that helps.

**badkuk** · March 11th, 2016 12:10 AM

Originally Posted by BratPAQ

di mo ba sila pede unahan ng resign kaysa termination? lets skip the legal action part and go after the legal action. what are your expectations after it? you'll quit the company head up high, the case you won will be your protection/proof to your next employer? are you expecting after the legal battle you will stay at the company and they will start treating you right? that your next evaluation will be fair? you know if you stay in your company after the legal battle everything would be hell from then on.

since as you said its a small company, try mo mag apply sa mga bigger company, a couple of resume here and there, a couple of interview just so that you can feel the water before they throw you outside the boat.

Financial concerns aside, i don't want to work in a company that doesn't want me there. i think in general, happy yung management sa work ko, up until this sudden move by the head office. imho, management doesn't want me out, but they'll go along with whatever the head office wants...i leave it to you to answer why.

i have to say ngayon pa lang, relations feel strained. The impression i get from management is that they sympathize with my situation, but implied na wala na silang magagawa, since whatever head office wants, head office gets.

i get that people have their own agendas, and politics is just something i have to deal with. Ang hindi ko matanggap is bakit kelangan pa akong siraan.

**badkuk** · March 11th, 2016 12:16 AM

Originally Posted by unmarked

It looks like they have been trying to push you out for 2 years na, and you wont budge. Kudos to you.

This makes them go for drastic measures, making something out of thin air. And like the true IT pros that we are, you have covered your bases with your documentation. I hope you have CYA emails lying around. If you do, start saving them. Anything from a simple GOOD JOB BADKUK to a client commendation, save that sh!t. they can't argue with what they told you in the first place, because it is on record. Failure to perform my duties? I thought you said I did a good job, as seen in this email. You lost confidence in me? In this email you said if it wasn't for me this would have gone down in rubble. so on.

careful with HR, they aren't really on your side and you know that.

I don't believe anyone in that team is out to get you. There might be some external pressures. A way out, if you choose not to fight this, while not burning your bridges or getting destroyed via a reference, would be to approach any one from HQ and ask, IF I WERE TO PUT YOU AS A REFERENCE FOR MY NEXT JOB, WOULD IT BE BENEFICIAL TO ME? Honest, straight to the point.. kung i sucker punch ka pa jan then I think its personal na.

hope that helps.

Actually since sinabihan ako na te take over yung systems group niya, i have deliberately avoided meddling with the infrastructure. In fact i have been very cooperative in handing over information, and even helping out his prodigy.

The past two years, wala talagang improvement sa infra namin. We got a new ISP, that's it. i was expecting there would be a handover of sorts to the new group since, except for one member, they're pretty much clueless sa details. i predicted this would take at least a year, kaya nagulat na lang ako na parang minamadali yung pagtanggal sa akin. Like i said malabong kausap si "take charge guy" -- most of the time mapapakamot ka ng ulo sa sinasuggest. At one point he vetoed a suggestion to fix the cabling during off hours, and instead suggested that we go recrimp cabling while people are working :p

Lastly....yes, i do believe it's not personal, but all the same, ako ang gagawing fall guy. "Take charge guy" is doing CYA and i'm just collateral damage.

Anyways, i do have CYA email, proving that he indeed declared taking over the infra, and the problems occured after he took over. Nakausap ko rin ang prodigy niya, back in 2013 when he was sent to head office for training, that he was told he would take charge of the infrastructure revamp.

**_Cathy_** · March 11th, 2016 12:32 AM

Are they terminating you??? I don't think those reasons are enough to warrant a termination. Samin pag ayaw na ang employee mina manage out by either giving extremely difficult or no tasks at all. Plus I think you need several years of fail rating in your employee evaluation. Pag termination walang retirement benefits diba?

**badkuk** · March 11th, 2016 12:41 AM

Originally Posted by _Cathy_

Are they terminating you??? I don't think those reasons are enough to warrant a termination. Samin pag ayaw na ang employee mina manage out by either giving extremely difficult or no tasks at all. Plus I think you need several years of fail rating in your employee evaluation. Pag termination walang retirement benefits diba?

Siyempre wala pa pong sinasabi sa akin. But i take that verbal warning as a sign of things to come. Charges are being trumped up against me, and when i seek clarification...dedma.

Parang pinapalabas nga na kayang kaya ng systems group yung trabaho ko, even though, as i said, mabibilang sa isang kamay yung total days spent inside our server/equipment room.

Re fail rating: isa pa yan mam. While not perfect, and i've had differences with management in the past, my evals from superiors, subordinates, and general staff have been good. Dun lang kay "take charge guy" ang me issue. Yung main complaint naman sa akin is mainitin daw ulo ko, never, as in never, naquestion yung technical skill, initiative and work dedication ko, until now.

Malabo po kasi tong kumpanya mam Cathy, bara bara yung pamamalakad. i'd rather not cite examples, i-limit ko lang po sa kaso ko. Style kasi nila, if it ain't broke don't fix it; whatever yung quick fix at pinakamurang solusyon, yung ang gagawin....you know the type.

Siguro me kasalanan din ako...for staying all these years.