Refusing a task assigned by your supervisor

The short of it is that I've been asked by my supervisor to apply a calculation in what I believe is an incorrect manner that gives misleading results. My objections fall on deaf ears. I have refused to do this stupid thing, and we're at an impasse.
Am I insubordiate or correctly and ethically principled?
Do you think the answer might vary depending on my possession of penis?

do it your way, and do it their way, and show them the difference in the results.

I would think you are being probably both. It's your boss and he makes the call, you are fully aware that his call is wrong but unfortunately until he doesn't see that, it's still his call. I guess I would do it the way they want it and the way I think is correct and demonstrate that the other way is wrong. In that way you are not breaking the hierarchy that in any case exists in your job and you are making your point on showing that the calculation is wrong. It's more work, but sometimes it's like that. That's just my opinion.

As Carm says, do it both ways and go to The Vent. If their view is blocked by phallic issues just shrug your shoulders and carry on.

One rule though: Ask for it in writing... sure you are just following orders now but when things go wrong it could quickly become "your idea"

Click here. Because quite frankly, refusal to do as asked can be seen as Arbeitsverweigerung and you might end up going to the Job Centre anyway to claim benefits. Good luck.

And it ain't about the cock.
Blimey.
Never thought I'd ever type that sentence hahahhaha

My theory...I have never ever worked for a company/firm, I have always only ever worked for a boss

Proud to kiss ass!! The only way up the ladder...fast!

Yeah, definitely do it both ways, you'll get into trouble if you go against a superior.
But for what it's worth, this has happened to me with a female boss, so it works both ways. Anyone can be a crap boss. It's called equality

If you have a feeling this is dependent on the possession of a penis then buy one and put it on your desk. Whenever a guy tells you to do something point to your plastic penis on your table and say ...I got one too...I just need to get some balls

No it's because you're black and an Ausländer.

Kat, if there is one thing, normal modern guy's can not stand it is women who constantly play the emancipation card. If you want to be taken seriously in any environment get rid of that chip, or forever be doomed to being the whinging woman of the company.

As to your question, if the results are wrong and their being incorrect will cause quantifiable financial harm to the company, then put this down in writting. You work, if I remember correctly, with engineers. They need figures, and facts and little diagrams (and throw in some oil and nuts and bolts while you're at it). Then you've done your job, your ethicly in the clean. Then you do as your told, shrug your shoulders, and wait for it to go tits up. Your mail is your persilschein. Or as they say in one company I work for - Mailen macht Frei!

If though the result is not really important, apart from your professional pride of a job done well and proper, then it's not worth geting into a big fight about. Choose your battlefield.

I think they'd have a hard time proving Arbeitsverweigerung, as I have done the calculation both their way and in several alternative ways to show the difference in results, just as Carm suggested. What I am refusing, actually, is to publish the misleading results. An acusation of insubordiation, though, may be spot on. I can't get around that. But damned if I want to be the one with their name on such rot. I can't get him to put it in writing, either.
Edit: Yes, it is really just my professional pride and reputation at stake here, but they happen to be important to me. What battlefield could be more important?

Carefully, and with facts and examples where appropriate, explain the 'differences' between the two approaches and ask him for his opinion on each 'difference' and it's possible effect on the final outcome. Germans (I assume he/she is one) in general like facts, they don't like being wrong, especially when pointed out by someone 'lower' than them so presentation is important. It may be that he/she is simply trying to prove a pre-stated but incorrect point with manipulated 'facts' to hide the error.

This is a common dilemma here. I have a micro-managing blinkered and bunker mentality ex-Siemens German new boss who has 'discussions' whose sole purpose is agree to his point of view. In the past I used to try to lead him through the logic of the arguments against his point of view but now I realise that he's just never wrong, doesn't want my input (despite a decade of experience doing what I do), and just wants me to make his dreams come true. I used to care and try to talk him round, now I'm looking for another job because he just won't change and even worse he hires more people like him.

I will use a variation of it "hey pal you left your penis on me desk...lost your balls too" or somesuch...good one!

Well simple you tell him, put it in writting and I'll publish YOUR results, otherwise no way. That's not arbeitverweigerung, that's negotiation. They couldn't sack you or give you are Mahnung for that. Well they could but it's easily contestable, as you haven't refused to do anything, you've just stipulated a condition. And if it came to a court case, any professional in your field could back you up on it. Stick to your guns here. If you now back down you're shafted.

Tell him to stick his job up his arse. Having a boss sucks.

I think you're right Gids. I'll send him an email asking again that he put his request in writing. The chances of my getting fired are pretty small. Though I may be proving to be 'difficult' at the moment, my work has gotten consistently glowing revues (because I take pride in work done well!) and I can't be easily or quickly replaced. That doesn't mean they won't find a reason to can me anyway, but I'm actually well liked here when I'm not being obstinate about something, so I feel fairly safe.

It's reading threads like this that make me so, so happy to be self-employed. I used to deal with that kind of shit and hated it.

Make sure you put that in the letter. Say its a pride thing. I was once threatened with a Mahnung for something. Long story I'd worked 34 hours on the trot and threw a dickie fit. I told my boss, don't verbaly threaten me, give me the Mahnung today and I'll fax it to my Lawyer to get it sorted out. He backed down tout de suite. Some bosses think they are the bee knees, when really their just wobbly knees in a suit.

Thanks for the opins, all.

"Publish" in the sense of giving it to external parties, with your name stated as the author?
Why can't your boss publish it under his own name?

@ gideon: Abmahnung, just for the records.

thanks!

Can you not (to get it in writing) e-mail him your dilemma - that you think it's possibly misleading?! That way he'd reply saying no, publish it and thus takes the responsibilty on himself and you're only following orders.

One thing has been bugging me a bit, and that's the little warning about having a chip on my shoulder, playing the gender card and being a whinging woman.

Though I am also wary of overusing this, I do think it's important to point out that even most men here are guilty of some (generally unconsious) gender bias in the work place. If you don't believe this, you need only compare pay scales for proof. The weight of my opinion really is affected by my lack of a penis. I know this absolutely and it's one of the reasons that I am so exacting about everything I do. I have to be twice as good at what I do to earn even half the respect that my male colleagues receive without even trying. I don't think I have a chip on my shoulder though. I don't shove this down anyone's throat or expect any special treatment, though at times it is hard to take. This is just a fact of life for a woman in business and I think it is important to occasionally give the gentle reminder of the hurdles that are being unconsiously set in our paths.

No - that may be the case in your company but it isn't the same for every employer.
And many women just don't ask for enough cash, some men too.

Sorry, I don't know why you want to still keep working for a place that causes you grief (and that you have posted about several times on the same topic at different times), when you work in a field where other jobs are available at companies that you can work with.

Fact of life for women in business? Bollocks. There are other options out there but you'd rather bang your head against the wall and wonder why you have a headache.

Sorry if that comes over harshly, but that's what I honestly think.
Living well is the best revenge, not staying with something that doesn't work just to prove a point. Especially if it doesn't look like you'll win. Now if I really thought that sticking it out would bring me something or get me somewhere, fair enough, but this has gone on too long.
Why do it to yourself? Is being right more important than being happy?

Agreed , there are two women in my office who bang on like Kat about repression. Unlike Kat's claims they do fuck-all. They are also fucking shit to work for and with due to the constant moaning. Most of the controllers here are women and the assholes are about evenly distributed.

You are probably right about your opinions but this is the way women are treated especially in Germany. You can either start your own business or if you don't have sufficient experience to be your own boss, I guess you can look for another job with similar requirements. Whining and complaining about it does not change anything,trust me, I work in an industry where women are highly discriminated upon. Your best bet is to sit down and think what your options are and take the next step. It won't help you getting upset or annoyed with this fact, you have to accept that this is the way of the world and work towards on how you can optimize your career. I am a member of many women organizations who network with each other and they do hire other women in their companies, so I guess if you work hard enough and gather enough experience, you will also succeed regardless of the hurdles.

Women at our company are given exactly the same options and opportunities as the guys and are judged upon what they can do and not whether they have a cock or not. Get over it Kat, you have played this card so often now that you are actually doing a disservice to other women who are competent at their jobs and enjoy the benefits of their skills without having to play the poor me card.

Everytime you have posted anything about your working relationship with your colleagues you have come over as having a very negative and frankly bloody awful attitude.

As Katrina says, if it's that bad and you really are being victimised or marginalised why not vote with your feet?

Bluedave - I have the same low opinion of your attitude, so I won't argue it with you.
And before anyone else accuses me of hanging around in a crap job because I just like whinging about it or somthing, I am keeping my eyes open for other opportunities while honing some new skills to add to my portfolio. At the same time, I'm pretty sure that the culture here is fairly typical for Germany and I'm not kidding myself that I won't have to face any gender bias in the next company. The only real way to escape it would be to work for myself, but that's not really an option for me right now.

Well if you work for an American company it's going to be sort of hard for them to pull off that stuff on you. During the times I worked for German banks and other German financial companies, I can't recall how many times men in the company expected me to clean the coffee machine or do stuff like bring them drinks. Wtf? I am their co-worker and not their maid! What makes me even madder is that the German women in my company go along with this BS. I have mostly expressed my opinions through my actions and not through speech and this has worked ok so far. I haven't had serious issues with my bosses, mostly all German and male but had some interesting episodes with my male coworkers.

My new seal will now have the latin for: "I got 99 problems, but a bitch ain't one". Word.

It's also my experience that there's a lot of sexism at the German workplace. They seem to be a few decades behind, whereas in the English-speaking-world women have more of a chance, but still have to fight these issues.

I don't really know about American companies, having worked for at least German-run ones half my life now. My method is to just develop various strategies for coping and working around the problems. Bouncing some of this off TT actually helps a lot as some of you have very good advice - Gids in particular is a gold-mine for advice on dealing with corporate egos. I really apprieciate the advice and support and I'm sorry if I've started to sound like a whinger because of it. Thanks all.
_{aside edit: Bluedave and Katrina are of course quite welcome to ignore me if I bore them. Won't bother me a bit.}

Good for you Lifeisabuffet.

And Kat go to www.gulp.com

haaahaaa...so you given up your nursing job then?

Since Enron and SOX intro my US company has been very sensitive to issues like this. In no way would misleading info be published or allowed to be published.
I agree with all Gid's advice on this issue. Keep records on the issue if you are worried you may be dropped in it later.

Shame really - seeing as you're in my area of work, which is why I know that other jobs are out there.
But good to see that you're not sexually discriminating against me, eh?

Nope, it's definitely not sexual. And I agree, it is a shame as I've great respect for your brain, but our personalities have never seemed to mesh well. Can't please em all though, so I don't take it that hard.

Don't worry, I won't.

Yeah - nursing's a bird's job dude.

I know I was (much) better paid than my male colleague at my last position, and that I was upper-mid range compared to the guys in the department before that (same company).
However, when I asked for my first raise there (about 13 years ago *cough*) I was told my pay scale would not change much because I was young (yes, I had my bachelor's before I was 22 - not 33 like here ) I was a foreigner (ok, I still am) and because I was a woman. My boss actually ducked when the HR guy said that to my face. The HR guy went pale when he saw the look on my face and I was given a 35% raise when I walked out of his office. My raises were pretty fair and regular after that
There is sexism, agism, racism, blondism, etc in the workforce, but it's how we deal with it that counts. Things may be "oh so much more equal" in the states, but I bet we don't see a female president for a long, long time over there.

err female, black, lebsian and in a wheel chair with a stutter president...

You omitted Jewish.

Christ, tis almost like you were involved in our conversation on Tuesday.

And single child hater come to think of it...

Given the fact that according to the US census from 2000 there are slightly more women in the US than men (108,133,727 : 100,994,367 over 18 years old), I think women have it in the hand to influence a lot of things including who is going to be president.


@ Kat
I think your above statement indicates that you too have a tendancy (possibly unconsiously) to gender bias. Whereas possibly there are a lot of males here in responsible positions, I think very few have any influence on the pay scale. If however you meant that the men don't stand up for women in situations where they earn less for the same work then I think we are heading for the next trap door, as some women might interpret that as men saying that women are too weak to defend themselves. A difference in opinion is not an indication of gender bias.
My tip: Leave gender out of it, your next boss might be a woman and 10 times worse or a man and 10 times better.