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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/max7238 on 2024-09-25 19:30:43+00:00.
tl;dr first: had a boss who constantly talked badly about everyone who quit when he realized he wasn’t ever going to be in charge, and despite his efforts I followed his orders and made sure everyone knew it was all his own fault.
Background:
I joined this Japanese-based company a few years ago as a “Production Assistant.” I wasn’t assisting anyone - in production. I was the only American, the only one fully fluent in both languages (still am, still looking for a better line of work), so I ended up helping everyone else in some fashion or another.
Well, I also had to do my own work, of course, but when things shipped behind schedule it was made out to be my fault. I helped our shipping manager send things out and receive them, count, quality check them, weigh the boxes, palatize them, etc. Our sales manager, the man himself in question, constantly asked me to double-check his emails so he sounded more natural and professional, and even had me get involved on numerous occasions to help him save face or placate customers.
Event:
From the time that I started, we’d been struggling to keep time because of inventory issues. These issues were both because our customer didn’t keep accurate numbers and neither did we, not just for the parts they sent us for assembly but also for the boxes we used to package the order before shipping. Boxes I used, and only I used. Boxes I was not allowed to order, but had to ask Mr. Sales Manager to order for me.
Well he would forget to order them. And then I’d remind him. And he’d forget again. Only ordering days later.
It happened enough times that our customer finally demanded we count up our inventory. I made an Excel sheet, made it legible in both ENG / JPN, color coded areas of concern… And I also added EVERYTHING we used in the office, from boxes only used by shipping, to gloves, to the parts from our biggest customer as they were demanding we count. Everything got counted, everything was put in that document, and I made sure to include a field of when it was last counted.
Result:
Suddenly we’re making good time and getting ahead and I don’t have to worry about boxes.
Now, this entire time, Mr. Sales was working on a 20pg document that “proved” our president didn’t do HIS job, trying to report him to the JP home office and get him fired. My two coworkers got a glimpse of it and saw there were sections on all of US too, bad-mouthing our work, trying to make it seem like only Mr. Sales was on the up-and-up.
Finally, the JP parent company sends someone. This guy is, unknown to all of us, the son-in-law of the company owner of a family-owned and run company, pretty common in Japan. Well, only I and our shipping manager learn of this, since we ACTUALLY talk to the guy. But Mr. Sales likes to treat him like a goof and poke fun at him. This guy JP sent to us, he carefully plans meetings with us for while Mr. Sales is out of the office, and interviews all of us about what’s been up at our USA branch.
Our late shipments come up, and “my” pattern of shipping late and insulting our biggest customer with my laziness. There’s also reports of me being on my phone too much, preoccupied watching videos or listening to music and not working.
I start pulling out the emails, and the inventory I was told to create. I show him the inventory history and my emails asking for Mr. Sales to do his job from before it was made. I show him the ship dates and the differences before and after I made the inventory file.
Fallout:
A friend of mine in Japan is suicidal, and I’d lost contact with him a few times. I decide to go to Japan and help him out, try to live there, but at best I have six months of savings. That means I have to leave the company. I KNOW this guy from JP is going to arrive and all Mr. Sales’ delusions of being USA branch president will die… But I couldn’t be there to see it. So I went to Japan, spent my six months successfully (friend re-entered college to chase his dreams instead of being a dead-eyed salaryman, he’s on the mend), and returned to the US a few months ago.
I get in contact with the company, and they re-hire me. Now that I’m here… I learn Mr. Sales quit shortly after I left, but not before he aired every last thing he had told me would stay between us and take all but a literal dump on my desk. I check my old inventory file. He zero’d it out. The company has been shipping late again, hired a new guy to do my job that’s been getting parts returned to fix errors numerous times (something that only happened to me once).
Do they want me to fix any of that? No. Here’s a book of local businesses. Call them, drum up customers.
Oh. Okay. Can do! Thanks for the paycheck for doing something so easy that won’t ever work, I guess.