When you boss has done something very wrong... 2

[Stevehewitt]

All,

I have a dilema.

I have been at this company for 4 months, and i'm the first network admin they have employeed. (We are a web development house).

My reporting line is:


MD
|_ Head of Tech Services (operations!)
|
|_ Technical Project Manager
|
|_ Me (network admin)

Before my time, the company has a AUP policy in place which states the usual - including no porn.

However, today I had to go onto my managers machine as he is the only one in the company with one of our client FTP website details. We had emergency work to do today and he is on holiday.
To get the details I used a cracking tool which dumps all passwords in IE along with some other bit's and pieces.

From this I can see a number of pornographic websites that he has been too. His PC has a rather a lot of spyware, and I believe has (or did have) P2P on it as well. I have also removed a couple of porn dialler from this machine recently too.

What am I to do? Tell my boss? Tell his boss? Stay quiet?

I've been in this situation before, but I have been reporting to the IT director or MD - and it was another employee being naughty. I simply informed HR and that was that.

We are too small a company (25 people) to have a decicated HR dept - and as it's my manager I am rather stuck.

Steve.

"They have the internet on computers now!" - Homer Simpson

 

[aarenot]

remember not to speak about this incident to anyone at the office, or elsewhere except where anonimity can be maintained. it is not anyone elses business, and you do not need the hassles it can induce. he may even try to use you as a reference if he has not figured it out. i would not respond to any request for a reference, or refer him to hr. do not under any circumstances refer to him in a negative way to outsiders, insiders, or anyone.

after all, his activities, no matter how offensive, unwise, hostile environment creating, they do not seem to be illegal, if he had done them on non-business resources. the sexual harrassment nature is civil, not criminal, or so i believe. i would also suggest some security evaluations of your workplace, as he may have an axe to grind, once he realizes how this may effect his carreer, and possibly his personal life[his marital relationship] do not get in any way involved any further.

 

[Thinkatron]

Thank you--you have given me more direction than anyone officially involved in this deal--isn't that amazing? I felt adrift on Friday--after I lit the fuse I just rattled around most of the day, wondering what was happening and wishing for instruction on what to do. (What I should have done was leave the office and work in one of our other buildings.) There were many awkward moments since I stayed put.

You're right--I saw no images that were illegal. Luckily, he did a lot of good things as head of our agency, so there's plenty we can praise him for. I'm content to do that and not mutter...