Employed 9yrs with same company now prior Felony an issue
Employed 9yrs with same company now prior Felony an issue
At the age of 24 1996 I plead guilty to 1 offense and Alfred plead the remaining. I was sentenced in 1997 and as a result I spent 14 months in prison and served my time.
In 1998 I had several jobs, but landed one with outsourcing firm working in a warehouse and worked temp-to-perm from July to November. I was offered a FT slot in the company. I explained my felony to my boss and HR, they were OK with it. February 1999 I applied for another position in the IT department, April 1999 transferred to IT/Engineering job. I was doing so well they asked to take on another job to back fill a slot since on of my peers was recently promoted (I filled his vacant slot), so in June 1999 I took over running the IT infrastructure of the division and took on a major beta corporate mail migration in August 1999; and I acquired my Microsoft Certification. July 2000 I was offered a corporate position in IT. During this time my felony was brought up again and the SVP of HR of the enterprise states that they have based my employment on my work record and achievements.
In July 2001 I was offered another position in Corporate Engineering to assist and facilitate the Company's National Network Operations Center, I was involved in many successful projects that has assisted the company monitoring key revenue generating products. During this time they paid for me to acquire my CCNA. I was once again in 2003 offered a position in the new VoIP department to assist with the deployment in certain markets which required me to travel across the US to assist with deployments.
In June 2005 I was requested to come back to the Corporate National Network Operations Center as Tiered support for the monitoring of the VoIP products. In July 2005 I was approached by a division leader if I would consider moving to launch my own VoIP switch. So I agreed and the company paid to relocate my entire family (my wife and I and six children) in November 2005. The launch was successful and we have been making great progress in my coverage area.
Recently it has been discovered by the local/area HR that I have a felony. My felony has warranted them request a background check... they will only find my felony conviction. The director of HR states I have an impeccable work history... and has concerns that I have access to customers information,(but I expressed I have had more access when I was in Corporate IT & Engineering….so I am wondering where is the liability….. ) The Director of HR tells me I am free to go back to work.
I have made contact with the former SVP of HR (who is now SVP of one of our competitors) who knew about my felony and he has instructed me to give the area HR Direct his direct number if they have any questions. I have nearly 10 years of excellence with this Fortune 500 giant... I believe that they are thinking of a strategy to let me go and it has possibly made its way to corporate legal…in spite of my work record.
What should I do..
• Do I have any recourse if I am released because of my felony (which they had prior knowledge) and not due to my job performance...?
• Contact a lawyer
• Contact ACLU
• Wait to see what they comeback with.
I have informed 2 of my close coworkers and my boss of this issue. Others (friends & family) believe I have a case if they release me with out a nice severance package.
Any feedback/criticism is welcomed
I am ashamed and I am not proud of my pass conviction or its circumstances….but it's in my pass. What ever happened to giving people a second chance?