manpreet Best Answer 2 years ago

For background I am Detention Supervisor In a small max security detention center. This means I am not part of the hiring process but am in charge of whoever is hired. Recently our administrator brought on some 18 year old kid, which is already bad (In the past employees under the age of 20 last about 2 months before committing a gross safety or civil rights violation and getting fired/indicted.) Normally a wet behind the ears kid with an attitude is a problem that corrects itself, but our administrator has been acting very strange, screening for him and blocking any disciplinary actions I try to take concerning his general misconduct, inability to perform required tasks, and refusal to accept correction or instruction. So I started digging and discovered he is a family friend's kid of our administrator and was illegally hired. Our hiring process involves a strict board including a representative from local law enforcement, the administrator, and a rep from our legal department. This strict board interview is followed by a written test and a comprehensive state and federal legal background check. Finally, the pool of applicants are scored based on how they did and then hired based on that score. This guy did literally none of that, he just shook his family friend's hand and walked on the job with zero qualifications, interviewing, or background check. The board denied several far more prospective applicants and this guy got hired basically as a walk-in by circumventing the board.

So, what does somebody do when their boss is creating such a situation? Prior to this job I was a Marine and our general response was requesting mast to speak to a superior above the one creating the situation. In this case my administrator IS the highest echelon in our command and I'm at a loss how to respond in a manner that doesn't get me in trouble for "bullying" the boss's pet.

manpreet 2 years ago

Get a consultation with an outside lawyer that specializes in whistleblowers

Besides that, protect yourself by documenting everything. Anytime you ask for permission to take corrective action and it is denied, make sure it is denied by email, and preferably either cc or bcc someone you trust in your legal or HR department whenever that happens. Same thing with documenting anything bad the new hire does. Usually here I would also recommend that if you aren't sure you can trust anyone, you can download the emails to a personal device just in case, but when you work for the government the penalty for doing that can go beyond just being fired so I would recommend against that in this case.

I've considered trying to think of more suggestions, but I really can't claim to know enough about your unique situation to provide useful advice. You need to talk to a lawyer who is working for you, not your employer, to get a real idea of what your options are.