Programmer fired after 6 years after forgetting how to code due to automation

[dalekphalm]

8 hours ago, Betabot said:

While I don't agree that this was the right thing to do, it was the smartest thing to do from the programmer side.

 

As most of you seem to forgetting a major point. If he programmed in within working hours on a work computer, it's almost 100% likely that the company would be able to claim it as their property and not pay for it. Which would either result in them either kicking him off his job, or maybe giving him another job, but that's a risk. Also if he did develop it on his own machine and own time, then it comes into the territory of the company legal right's in their data and processes.

Obviously there's not enough information to say when he programmed the code - at home or at work. If he did it at work, most companies have provisions in their contracts that anything created while at work is property of the company, so they would have full rights to use it after he was fired.

 

If he made it at home, unless his contract was VERY STRICT (Eg: Everything you code while working for us, whether at home or work, belongs to us), then he would retain ownership of the code. I highly doubt this is the case though.

3 hours ago, patrickjp93 said:

Royalties

What exactly would he earn Royalties on? Every sale of a piece of software that was tested using that code? I highly doubt it. He would likely only test a piece of code once (Unless there were errors, and would need debugging and therefore re-testing), before that software was then put into production stream and sold however many times.

 

It's not like a physical tester, at say, a car factory, that physically tests, say the brakes, on every vehicle sold.

 

So unless he SOLD his ownership of the software itself to this company, then I really don't think he'd be able to get any sort of royalty deal out of it.

 

At best he could:

1. Get a huge upfront payment for buying a license to the software, and

2. Get a decent lump sum every year as a maintenance contract for support on said piece of software

 

A maintenance contract/support agreement is not the same as royalties.

 

5 minutes ago, dalomo said:

I was referring to showing up naked and drunk being illegal.

 

And we seem to be close to the same page, he deserves to be fired. But still deserves the money they paid him before they got off their own equally lazy asses and realized what he was doing and fired him.

BTW showing up naked and drunk isn't necessarily illegal. Showing up naked? Okay, yeah that's probably illegal in most places (Public nudity or something), but showing up drunk is only illegal if you're wandering around public spaces. You have to be "visibly drunk" for it to be illegal too, and once you're on private property (eg: Your companies building), it's not illegal anymore.

 

So while yes, being drunk at work still deserves 100% insta-fired, but it's not illegal unless under very specific circumstances.

[NumLock21]

His friend *dude how you get fired?!*

Him *cause I loled*.

[nims0c]

Fired because he did his job too well? LUL

[Anakumulos]

Contrary to what im seeing from many people, Im in the middle ground. To the people saying that he didnt deserve the money he was paid, and that it should be taken away, youre flat out wrong.

 

Did he deserve to get fired? Yes. He no longer met the requirements of his position (Being able to program). This is straightforward. Did he get fired for automating his job? No. No SMART company would fire you for that. If anything, they would give him a raise and ask for the code, and see what else he could do. The issue is the fact that he forgot how to program while probably breaking other company policy (Such as no gaming at work).

 

Should his pay be forced to go back to the company? No. The company can do no such thing in america. When the money enters your bank account from a paycheck, it is yours and yours only. They can try to sue for it back, but they would lose simply because of gross negligence of not checking up on the employee. Its a lot like the McDonalds employee who had a direct deposit of some $40,000 due to an accounting error, and who promptly left and never came back. Can the company reclaim that money? No. They could sue but would lose for negligence.

 

In this case, both sides failed in a massive way. They each got what they deserve.

[MrDynamicMan]

On 09/06/2016 at 5:43 PM, KE2012 said:

Aye, you hit the nail on the head..  

Only thing there is that could he move up? CEO logic dictates that if he said "hey guys. I just fully automated my job. Could I get a raise" he'd be sternly disciplined and possibly fired. 

[Anakumulos]

10 minutes ago, MrDynamicMan said:

Only thing there is that could he move up? CEO logic dictates that if he said "hey guys. I just fully automated my job. Could I get a raise" he'd be sternly disciplined and possibly fired. 

In most companies, yes he could move up. While he doesn't simply go about telling people in that way, he could work on making other jobs more efficient, allowing more clients to be processed in shorter spans of time and increasing the amount of businesses they could do in a given time. There are people making seven digits a year who work solely for improving workplace efficiency.

[MrDynamicMan]

4 hours ago, Anakumulos said:

In most companies, yes he could move up. While he doesn't simply go about telling people in that way, he could work on making other jobs more efficient, allowing more clients to be processed in shorter spans of time and increasing the amount of businesses they could do in a given time. There are people making seven digits a year who work solely for improving workplace efficiency.

Guess it all depends on his employer. Maybe it's because I've been reading too many stories about asshole managers I've developed a cynical view about it. 

 

In his position I'd say I've built an amazing automation system, and am willing to sell it to the company.