Addressing Misuse of My Name Post-Resignation in Food Safety Compliance

Hello,

I have reached out to numerous agencies, with no response or direction, does anyone by chance know what steps I need to take for the below scenario?

I previously was a QA Manager/PCQI for a candy manufacturing plant, so the food safety plan was under my supervision for all updates, implementations, etc. I was liable under any circumstances that could arise regulatory, compliance, or safety wise.

It recently came to my attention, that the company is pretending I am still employed and just out of the office or sick, and have even told a gluten auditor that I was out sick with COVID when in fact I had resigned from my position about two weeks prior to this audit, they had plenty of time to inform and take proper actions, and instead they are using my name still. None of the paperwork that I updated before my resignation was signed, or put into place, nothing has been updated since my resignation, on Senior managements end. Is this something I should even worry about, if so please help with anything you can, I greatly appreciate anyone's help in this matter, I have never been in this kind of situation.

Thank you!

Hi PCQI-HACCP-IN-TX,

:welcome:

Welcome to the IFSQN forums

A tricky situation.

Do you have any evidence that the company is pretending that you are still employed and just out of the office or sick? or that they have told a gluten auditor that you were out sick with COVID?

If you don’t have any evidence, walk away and move on.

Kind regards,

Tony

I'm assuming you're in close contact with a current employee (former colleague) at your former employer 

The only thing you can really do is:

Ask that employee for evidence, that would stand up in court- if you're able to get that sort of thing (tape recording, written documentation etc.)   then you can hire a lawyer for a cease and desist letter as well as a legal impersonation type notification you can have sent to the auditing companies

OR be ballsy and call them out yourself!

Either way, you cannot do anything without hard evidence  (my cynical mind says maybe who ever is feeding you the intel may not be a good a friend as you thought)

How long has it been since you left?

You mentioned that it was 2 weeks after you left that they told a GF auditor you were ill, but how long ago has it been now.

With documented evidence in hand you call the employer directly and inform them that you are demanding all back pay as they are committing a fraud via miss-representation. Got a 50/50 chance of this working, then contact an attorney or represent yourself.

Either way, they will stop.

If it makes you feel any better, I received a call from a regulatory auditor about a routine inspection they performed and they left a voicemail. I called back and said that I am no longer with that company and they were very shocked. It was about 3 months since I switched jobs at that time. That company told them I was out sick, as well. I do not know the extent of trouble they got themselves into for lying, but all that lying does is dig them into a deeper hole and they were in a deep hole already. 

If you receive any calls from regulatory agents, just be honest with them. 

Your Record of Employment will have an end date, If anything comes up after that date you have proof you weren't working for that company. I don't believe you will get in any trouble legally. 

With reference to PCQI, I am assuming you're in the US so I cannot advise on the legal side.  But as suggested above, I would think legally you should have proof that you were not employed by the manufacturer at the time so cannot be held accountable.

But from a point of view of your reputation being tarnished, are you on Linkedin?  I would make it very clear you've left even if you did so with a gap.  Gaps and short tenure are more tolerated than they used to be in CVs, especially since covid and if they're as bad as you say, I would also manage the reputational risk.  Imagine if they had a huge recall and you're still associated with them in some peoples minds?  I'd prefer to have a gap than be seen as the ***hole who let it happen on their watch (fair or not).  

But I'd be interested to know how you found out and whether there's any formal or informal pressure you can put on that way?  If you found out in a way where you can make it clear you're aware, I'd consider seeing whatever the equivalent of a UK version of a solicitor is to get a formal request to stop using your name in this way.  Not sure what US costs would be for this but I'd imagine a couple of hundred quid in UK terms, or you could do it yourself of course (almost) for free (but also worth checking any union membership or legal expenses insurance you might have.  In the UK at least, legal expenses is often part of household insurance and surprisingly may cover workplace legal issues.)  That way you have a line in the sand.  I've told you I'm aware you're doing it, if there are repercussions of this, I can prove I've asked you to stop. 

I agree with Glenn. If you were salaried, call them and ask them for all pay to date since by their own admission they still consider you employed there. If they don't comply, call a lawyer. I guarantee one will take the case and split the settlement with you! There are a lot of legal violations within their actions.