Submitted by hgibbs1968 on
in
Forums
BLUF:
Some of the product's my company produces could be violating state/federal laws. If it's true our B2B customers could be held responsible, along with us, for selling non-compliant products.
Detail:
The division I work in manufactures products that must conform with new state and federal requirements and products that fall under these laws must be specifically labeled to show compliance.
I am new to managing this line of products and I've learned that nearly half the offering may not comply with the legislation, yet we are labeling them as compliant. Our B2B customers are unaware of this.
Here's the hitch, I cannot say definitively that the products are or are not in compliance, just that they are highly questionable.
The issue is that I have been asked to push the products and accompanying promotional program to the marketplace asap. I seem to be alone in advocating that we do our due diligence and ensure the products are truly compliant, as this would put the target launch date 3-6 months behind.
Making matters worse, the law states that distributors selling product that do not comply with the new state/federal law, can be held just as responsible as we would be. This could then lead to our distributors being the target of lawsuits.
I have expressed my concerns with my management, (as well as my skip), with no success. The expectations of my peers, my manager and my skip manager is that I will continue to move ahead and complete my projects for the upcoming launch.
I have strong ethical concerns about potentially breaking the law and lying to our B2B customers.
I have a strong desire to protect the reputation of our company, which would be harmed if we launch with non-compliant product and it were to be exposed.
I am unsure what to do at this point and any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you
It seems unclear
Hello Hgibbs1968,
In general terms, becuase you state that you can not " say definitively that the products are or are not in compliance", I would keep researching the compliance issue while following the direction you are given. I would keep documentation at home on your raising of this compliance issue and keep updating this documentation. If ultimatly you arrive at the conclusion that they are not in compliance I would again raise the issue, perhaps with an ombudsman or something similar. With one exception, I would continue to follow direction until or unless you learn that they are not in compliance.
The one exception I could see to this is if you believe that the possible non-compliance has life threatening safety issues. If that is the case and you believe they are not compliant I would explore possible whistleblower status and/or find a new job.