Termination & Pirated Software

I was hired about 8 months ago the setup and operate CAD/CAM software. After about a month, I was presented with 2 pieces of software that were pirated. (I know because I used to be a sales rep for the company). The owner told me that he got them for free and didn't want to pay for them. (The combined packages cost about $20,000). From that point - I was extremely paranoid about getting caught because I knew what I was doing was illegal and may get caught. I was always looking over my shoulder and shutting down the software everytime my office door opened. This greatly affected the way I worked and did my job from day to day. I was a nervous wreck 24 hours a day. After about 6 months - the owner of the company told me my job performance was poor, and terminated my employment. It seems that I was in a no-win situation. Do I have the right to take legal action in any way ?

Rodney,

North Carolina

On what basis? Because you not only knew of your employer's breaking the law but supported the enterprise by using the illegal software.

The ONLY thing you can do at this point is contact the software vendor and let them know of the pirated software. Oh, and file for unemployment.

If you are thinking that your termination was in any way illegal, it wasn't.