The fight club

Would you leave a job out of courtesy on a minor mistake?

Not me, unless I get fired.

Take Gaurav Sabnis. In one entry, he called an IIPM Institute fraudulent and how it messed around with people's lives. IIPM slammed him with a legal notice, asking him to remove the entries and to apologize to IIPM, which was naturally trying to save its face.

Happened so that he worked at IBM, and IIPM was an IBM client, so he could get screwed. Surprisingly, Sabnis left his job, because IIPM "threatened" IBM about burning IBM laptops it owned, which could get IBM bad press.

"Threaten" is a very strong word, and Sabnis doesn't substantiate its usage. IBM seemingly didn't perceive this as a "threat" as they were willing to stand by Sabnis despite his post. If they perceived this a threat, he would've been fired.

Such a trivial matter led to the man leaving his job. The plot thickens in the way Sabnis left his job.

Surprisingly, he left his job because "IBM was so kind to him." He didn't want "IBM's well-being to be compromised in any way," so he "voluntarily resigned" from his job. IBM (now Lenovo) execs asked him to reconsider his decision to resign.

That just doesn't sound truthful. There has to be something deeper.

Did he resign because he didn't have the guts to take the heat of the situation? Or did he resign before IBM fired him, though he said the company had no plans to do so?

Or he didn't want to work there, which is totally plausible, but wasn't honest about it.

If he is portraying himself as a victim and a Mr. Goody Two-Shoes, it is a bunch of crock, and an IBM U.S. senior exec agrees with me on this. Sabnis may think he did IBM a favor by leaving, the exec added, though it actually may have cost IBM. It takes time, money and effort to find a replacement.

I don't support IIPM's actions -- they are criminals, but Sabnis' actions are even more mysterious.

Maybe sacrificing a job for IBM has its benefits. It would've been great for him to take the challenge of facing IIPM with IBM, stick it out to see what he learnt. And finally, bask in the glory of victory.

But what did he get? He left a job for his blog, running away from a battle that he couldn't handle, and not believing in IBM to handle the situation. It will look bad on his resume.

Do not give up, ever. Especially if the company appreciates your work and wants to retain you. Alas, he portrayed himself as a victim of legal and corporate sleaze, which is not a bit classy.

After reading this, people might say - "oh, you had better be in such a situation before passing a comment." Sweet talk, chum. I've gone through a lot of tough situations, like reporting from a conflict zone. Everyday was a challenge, I never quit, not that I had a chance to scram. Others needed me and I knew it.

But it's possible I misunderstood this whole situation. If that's the case, welcome to the fight club.

I rejoined karate recently, and I'm itching to throw another axekick.