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I have this co-worker, and since the day I met him, he has been great. He taught me many things and we've had a very friendly relationship. Now my goal here is not to ruin it, but since he is no longer my team lead and I am now on a different team, he tends to use my name to push his changes forward.

Scenario

In our company we have a procedure to push code to production. The programmer submits an official form to the QA team where they sign it, the Team Lead signs it and then a Manager signs it. This is all great when I am the programmer and I am doing the work. As of late, since I am no longer on his team, the work has fallen on to him and he has done it, but to push his changes through, he keeps using my name as the programmer. I understand why he does it as it makes things a lot faster for him as he then doesn't need to get the director's approval, only the manager's.

In any case it bothers me as I get emails and messages when something goes wrong and I have no idea something was even submitted. Then I'm forced to lie and say speak to this other guy, he worked on that part of the problem. I want to tell him to stop but I honestly don't know how to do it without making a big deal out of it or offending him.

I'm not a very social person and I often say what I mean in wrong tones and I don't want to do that this time.

Further Details

  1. The level of offense in this company could be high if there was a problem, however while there are no problems, honestly nobody cares. They would care if let's say our company lost a million bucks over a code change that starts with my name. Then I would be in some serious trouble proving I had nothing to do with it.
  2. Its not a question of whether my name is tagged with the form, the way my name gets used is as if I personally requested that change and he approved it.
  3. I am not trying to get advice in advancing my career, more like not losing a friend so I believe this question belongs here.
  4. He sits next to me, literally less than a meter away.
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Bob
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    If you were to respond to those emails you get when something goes wrong with "I was not the one who wrote that code", how much trouble would your coworker get into? – Crazy Cucumber Oct 03 '17 at 14:27
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    While you're free to ask this on any site that it fits, I think you would get more qualified answers at The Workplace, since this sounds like it could have serious career consequences for both of you, and the user base there will be able to advise you about that. (If you do want to move it there, please don't repost - flag and ask a mod to migrate it.) – Em C Oct 03 '17 at 14:34
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    @EmC : good point. Last paragraph from OP seems to qualify this for IPS, as TW.SE will often offer "professional ways of dealing", regardless of feelings, and that seems to be an issue here. – OldPadawan Oct 03 '17 at 14:46
  • Why does no one notice, that he uses your name, although you are no longer in the same team? – Anne Daunted GoFundMonica Oct 03 '17 at 16:59
  • @AnneDaunted I think that is not relevant – Bob Oct 03 '17 at 20:33
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    If you're getting in trouble for stuff he's doing wrong, I think it probably is. It doesn't have to be an exact explanation but why are the people seeing these reports not aware of the fact you're not even working on this any more? – Catija Oct 03 '17 at 21:41
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    When he uses your name for the programmer, does he use your account for that? (git hub/lab etc) Or is it just in the comments of the project? – Flummox - don't be evil SE Oct 04 '17 at 07:19
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    I think what Flummox is going for is: Change your password, so no one can check-in code on your behalf. You can easily give a reason for it: Someone seems to have hijacked the account ;) - Not a lie, not an accusation. – Fildor Oct 04 '17 at 09:34
  • No one is "forced to lie", but you and only you are the one responsible when you do. – MickeyfAgain_BeforeExitOfSO Oct 04 '17 at 12:39
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    I'd suggest that perhaps a change in policy is in order. It seems that one has to get signed off two levels above them to get code checked in. The fact the team lead has to go all the way to a director to get his own code checked in is pretty ridiculous. If it just requires the manager and one other person, perhaps you could review the code for him since you are at least familiar with the codebase. That way it removes you as the author, keeps multiple eyes looking at the code, and no one is lying / being forced to lie. I kept it a comment as it's more of a workplace answer than interpersonal –  Oct 05 '17 at 00:33
  • You are discussing the wrong problem here. The goal is not to change policies and cause havoc in the company, the goal is just get him to stop doing it without hurting our friendship. – Bob Oct 05 '17 at 17:12

5 Answers5

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The most important thing here is to try and not accuse the coworker of a misdeed (even though what they are doing is a little fraud-y). If possible imply that the use of your name was an honest mistake (when Boss asks) i.e.:

Oh, I'm not on that project anymore, he must've forgotten to remove my name from the list of reviewers


Similarly you could use this approach with the coworker more directly:

Oh hi, looks like my name accidentally ended up in your review, could you please remove it, the boss was asking me about changes and I had no idea what he was talking about

This way you're asking for your name to be removed in a non-accusatory non-confrontational manner, while still letting the coworker know that people are noticing and that you are not going to cover for them

P.S.
Do not lie on your coworker's behalf, the review processes are established to prevent bugs that could cost company money or cause security breaches if applicable, so deliberately subverting that process can be seen as a very bad thing by the company. And you can't even begin to pretend that lying was somehow accidental or an honest mistake, so don't.

Maxim
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    Nice! I think this is the right way to go, especially by making the co-worker aware of that OP is getting into trouble over his behavior. He might not even have noticed that. – Fildor Oct 04 '17 at 06:53
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The main question to be answered here is this:

How illegal/wrong is it to use your name to push my code through for approval?

Different companies have different policies and rules when it comes to things like this. This is, in my opinion, something you could get fired over. The company I worked for (in India) almost fired two people for not changing the comment on top of the code. We used to add comments on top of the code with edit history and explanation to the edits made. If you change some code and not mention it in the top, you could get into a lot of trouble. If you change something and mention someone else's name, you could actually get fired for it.

So, how serious is it to your company and how does that affect your approach?

Here are a few ways you can respond:

  1. When you get an email when something goes wrong, you could reply to that email, adding your coworker to the CC section, and say something like this:

    I apologize, but I do not recollect making any changes to this code. [Co-worker's name], do you know who made this change?

This way, you're playing it safe. You're letting the co-worker decide whether he wants to say he did it or not. If he chooses not to, that is fine. The supervisors know that you didn't mess anything up, but someone else is and not owning up to it. It is up to them to investigate. As far as you know, you are not in the knowledge of someone using your name.

  1. You could forward all the emails you get when something goes wrong to your co-worker with something like this in the body:

    Dude, you're trying to get me fired! LOL. There are some problems with your code, could you respond to this email and let them know you're working on it?

This immediately won't reap any benefits. But what it will definitely achieve is, your co-worker realizes that you think this is going to get you into trouble. After a few times of you sending an email like that, he will stop. Because, you are letting him know that you DEFINITELY know when he uses your name.

The reason for that "LOL" is to make it seem on the lighter side. And the reason for forwarding this email to your co-worker and letting him deal with it is, the person who originally sent you the email notices that you have not been responding to any of those emails when you claim responsibility for it. When your co-worker keeps replying to those emails, they will start to notice that he takes responsibility for "Your" mistake in the code; hence, putting the co-worker at risk of getting caught for "proxying" your name.

  1. Be completely straightforward. The next time you meet this co-worker (do not try to set a meeting up just to talk about this, that will look like you're escalating it more than it needs to), just casually bring up a conversation about how you've been getting emails for some flaws in his code. Just let him know that there are problems with his latest deployment and that he might want to contact the concerned party to get it fixed. And end this discussion with something like this:

    Also, I am not in the same department as you. So you may want to stop using my name because if they find out that you've been using my name, you might get fired. It was different when we were on the same team but now there is no logical explanation behind why I would have written the code for a project I am not even in. So, it is definitely going to come up and if it does, trust me! I don't like you that much to get fired for you! Hahaha..

Keep it casual and joke about it. Don't make it seem like a big deal. But instead of you having to worry about this, make him worry about. It is his problem after all. As long as you've let him know that it is not OK, the company cannot do anything to you for him continuing to use it (depending upon the location of this company).

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Crazy Cucumber
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    Keep work emails professional, that is without "LOL" and "hahaha". – Polygnome Oct 03 '17 at 21:37
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  • The lol was in the email, the hahaha wasn't. That was in a real life conversation. 2. The op clearly states he has a very friendly relationship with this coworker. 3. The email was only to this coworker and not to anyone else. 4. There is nothin wrong with a little casual lingo in a work email if the receiver is a "friend". @Polygnome
    • – Crazy Cucumber Oct 03 '17 at 21:49
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    @CrazyCucumber Should it turn out that the "friend" isn't that much of a friend, the email (and probably a response to it) could soon become an important piece of evidence. So it should make clear that OP is not wanting the co-worker to get into trouble (because the behavior might not be on purpose) but still stop that fraud-y behavior. - TL;DR: no place for "LOL" in that mail. – Fildor Oct 04 '17 at 06:58