Re: What would YOU do?
ok so i may be new to boat building but having a degree in international law may be of use here.
not many "everyday" crimes come under the umbrella of a general application law throughout the western world...... But this is one of them. unfortunately this is a common although hidden crime.
Although I know that your laws are different to ours here they mostly vary in the severity of the punishment. (with yours being stronger)
There are a couple of issues here that first and foremost have been ignored.
1) A non discloser agreement does not cover a crime being committed in present text or one about to be committed. Child porn IS a crime.
2) If the manager is stating that everything on the server-stand alone computers are confidential, that is because they are company property, therefore by stating that as a reason not to report it THE MANAGER is making the company apart of a crime and putting jobs, and other peoples welfare at risk by partaking to the crime. he is basically admitting that the items in question are company property.
3) Most fortune 500 company's have international ties and connections....... this could be a part of something much larger. when one is caught after a proper investigation by law enforcement it usually has far reaching implications that should never be ignored.
Now on to my personal opinion. By informing the correct law enforcement he is not a "whistle blower" he is reporting a very serious crime.
it is a bit different than calling in about the lady who throws the bag of dog poop out the car window whilst leaving the park.
Any manager that has put this gentleman in that position deserves to be sitting alongside the perpetrator of the crime whilst in court answering to his actions as well.
what I would have done is very simple.
A: told the manager to stay where he was whilst I called the police.
B: not touched anything further until the police arrived.
C: If put into the position where my employment has been affected negatively by my actions, is to phone as high in the company as possible, made an appointment and explained what is going on and ask why i have been treated as such.
should the outcome be a blow off i would report it to the media as no company wants any connection to child porn, as neither do people in general.
I can honestly say that this is a situation that should not have happened, had the manager acted in a manner befitting his position. If your friend reported it then he's done the right thing. At the end of the day people go to work to make money to enjoy life............. how can you enjoy life living with yourself if you didn't report it?
I feel for you and your friend bubba, this is the sort of thing that has no place anywhere and I can only hope that this is resolved for all parties involved and that the outcome is agreeable.
