421–430 of 566 posts
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Op says he did provide documentation but they lost it (and hadn't been backing up) after he left
Of course, but that wouldn't stop them from saying otherwise, suing and binding him in prelonged and expensive legal battle, would it?
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I love this with all my heart. You did exactly the right thing at every step.
Funnily enough it made me sick to my stomach. I manage a small company and the idea of being extorted in such a blasé and psychopathic fashion terrifies me to even think about.
I actually don't see any issue that isn't simply a matter of money. Everything they list that's an issue seems to revolve around the fact that the employees with domain knowledge for the system have left the company. Reach out to them and hire them on as contractors. If they left under bad terms because the business was a bunch of dicks, expect to pay 10x market rate. If this is truly "fix this or the business is out…
Is there another industry where a few employees with "domain knowledge" can sink a company? Asking because, while, yes, throwing money at the problem might be a solution, I think the obvious bigger issue is how does one allow themselves to get into this situation? Or rather, how does one avoid getting into this situation. Because it seems to me that the software industry of late has become so mired in esoteric layers…
IMO, the problem is technical debt. Most likely, in the majority of these cases, the engineers working on the system knew perfectly well that it was a mess, was very difficult to learn how to maintain, and many parts were dangerous to modify. Most likely they told management multiple times that this was a problem and what the consequences of it would be. They would have refused to budget resources for improving it, so everyone either saw the writing on the wall and quit, or gutted it out and learned how to manage the system eventually. Maybe the system limps along for a while longer, but it's only getting worse and the knowledge needed to maintain it more siloed and specialized. Eventually you lose a key person, something breaks that nobody left can figure out, or maybe the whole thing just implodes like the main story here.
To avoid it, you must understand the pattern, hire good technical people, and give them the resources needed to improve the system in an orderly fashion.
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What did their legal letters try to pin on you? Did they try to say you were somehow legally required to help them?
The letters stated that I had a contractual obligation to assist. But I noticed at the top they were stamped 'without prejudice'. I asked my friend what that meant, and he said that technically it's not a legal letter - so I ignored them. For a while, I made it game to light the various communications on fire in interesting ways, but it got boring.
Did they have a legal reason to think so?
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There are certain things that you can outright be fired for - such as stealing, I believe. I think that showing up drunk for work might also be one of them?
AFAIK showing up drunk isn't enough but if you fuck up (I think that's the legal term) and say you drop the production DB while drunk that you can be fired immediately.
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Agreed - my statement is in regards to "simple solutions".
That was my point. The simplest solutions are sometimes the most effective, as well. Incentivizing brain power to remain the country via pay increases seems like the most basic approach one can take, considering the GP was talking about Romanian studios complaining they can't find/hold talent and they are competing with the rest of the EU.
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My apologies, I edited my comment as you were typing I think. I added some more.
IMO your edit didn't help and you're not getting a lot of sympathy. The point wasn't that the employee is psychopathic as you say, but that management was incompetent by not ensuring a transfer of knowledge and validating before the employee left. You as the buinsess owner should plan for people to not be available and no one person can derail a $10M contract. This is also called the "bus factor". https://en.wikipedi…
Walking away from a toxic situation is not "psychopathic." It's common sense and if we all did it more then the psychopaths who expect us to stick around through it all would finally learn how to treat other people with respect. It's a job, not a marriage.
I actually don't see any issue that isn't simply a matter of money. Everything they list that's an issue seems to revolve around the fact that the employees with domain knowledge for the system have left the company. Reach out to them and hire them on as contractors. If they left under bad terms because the business was a bunch of dicks, expect to pay 10x market rate. If this is truly "fix this or the business is out…
Is there another industry where a few employees with "domain knowledge" can sink a company? Asking because, while, yes, throwing money at the problem might be a solution, I think the obvious bigger issue is how does one allow themselves to get into this situation? Or rather, how does one avoid getting into this situation. Because it seems to me that the software industry of late has become so mired in esoteric layers…