I am on my employer's Y2K Contingency Planning Committee. As such I have been distributing info from this internet site and others. My employer is heavily dependnet on the import of critical raw materials such as Chrome from the Phillipines and South Africa as wellas other critical raw materials from China, Brazil, Mexico and Canada.

Based on Gartner report, World Bank Report and USA Army slide show; I recommended that we build additional stockpile of critical raw material and some additional months of finished goods. This suggestion was denied on the basis that we are spending $25 million to make internal systems Y2K compliant and must reduce inventory to bare bones in order not to tie up capital.

My question for this group is:

Since I have brought a contingency to proper attention in writing, can I sue for damages in the event that Y2K disrupts our raw material supply and causes me to loose my job or suffer financial loss. One exec at my company told me to hold onto my letter to the committee and their letter of refusal that it might be evidence someday.

Thanks in advance for any constructive comments. I appreciate the insight shared on this forum

-- knotty (not@thisaddress.yet), April 17, 1999

Answers

Knotty,

IANAL (I Am Not A Lawyer), but I doubt you'd have a case simply because they failed to follow your recommendation. Are they obligated to follow every recommendation that every employee makes simply because something (unrelated to safety) _might_ happen in the future? I don't think so...

Btw, talking to executives about future lawsuits against that self-same company is a VERY good way to get your ass fired _before_ Y2K has a chance to cause any problems. Why would they keep you around if they already know you're disloyal? I sure wouldn't.

-TECH32-

-- TECH32 (TECH32@NOMAIL.COM), April 17, 1999.

What if the small company I work for wants me to come in around the turn-over and it's not safe because of looting, etc? Do I have a right to refuse if my personal safety is at stake without losing my job?

-- Libby Alexander (libbyalex@aol.com), April 17, 1999.

There will be so many "wronged" weeples and so many thoughts of lawsuits -- no room for lawsuits, too many  too many  too many  besides everybody may be scrambling at such a primal level that lawsuits will be a distant sigh from the "golden but rotting" age ...

xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxx

-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), April 17, 1999.

Is there some unwritten assumption going around that the U.S. courts will be _able_ to process all these Y2k lawsuits before the statutes of limitations run out, after the Y becomes 2k?

-- No Spam Please (No_Spam_Please@anon_ymous.com), April 17, 1999.