Hi All,
I’m hoping some of you wiser, more experienced IT Consultants can lend some advice. I’m in a very sticky predicament.
I’ve been the IT Supervisor at a company for four years now. But I’ve been wanting to leave and go hourly for the past year, feeling underpaid, taken advantage of, and having hit the ceiling for advancement and knowledge.
I’m new to IT – switched from another profession – this Supervisor position is my first job in full-time IT.
The question is this: Is it unethical for me to leave my current organization to join a small IT Consulting LLC who serviced our organization for one project this year?
I’ve already given my four week notice, but regrettably and naively told my “old employer” too much info. They’re now possibly threatening to sue my “new employer”. My old employer says that this consultant should not have hired me – “a key player in the organization” – and that what happened was unethical. They say that I’ve created a conflict of interest, by helping bring in a consultant who later then “plucks the organizations valuable assets (employees)”. This consultant was the most qualified for the initial project, which is why we chose him in the start.
The problem is my new employer says that just defending himself in court would put him out of business, since he’s just a small shop trying to grow his team.
This consultant never came to me offering a job. I pursued him (quite persistently) once I heard him say that he was understaffed and looking to replace guys who left his company. After a few months and many discussions, he said I could join his team so I decided to do it. I’ve never signed any non-compete clause. Plus my new employer isn’t a competitor, but a vendor.
Is my “old employer” justified?
I’m thinking of walking away from both companies in attempts to thwart any lawsuit from happening. I’ll be jobless for a while, but I’m OK with that if it might help stop my old employer from suing the new one.
I admit I made mistakes. Hopefully I’ll find another job soon and can just see this as a good learning experience.
Help!