Engineer sentenced to 40 months in prison for role in VW emissions scandal

Engineer sentenced to 40 months in prison for role in VW emissions scandalEngineer sentenced to 40 months in prison for role in VW emissions scandalThe defense of I was just doing what my boss told me to doesnt work in court, as one engineer found out.This past Friday, engineer James Liang got sentenced to 40 months in prison for his role in the Volkswagen emissions fraud scandal. As a Volkswagen engineer, Liang helped to develop the software that allowed the German automaker to cheat on federal emissions tests and emit up to 40 times the allowed levels of pollutants for a decade.Being loyal to your boss will still send you to jailIn Liangs defense, his lawyer said that Liang was not a mastermind but an employee who blindly executed a misguided loyalty to his employer, according to Reuters. The federal judge hearing Liangs case didnt buy this argument.Your cooperation and regret is noted, but it doesnt excuse the conduct, U.S. District Court Judge Sean Cox said, fining Liang for $200 ,000 and sentencing him to more than three years in prison. This is a harsher sentence than what federal prosecutors had recommended for Liang, who had reached a plea verstndigung im strafverfahren and had been cooperating with investigators for months.The judge said the harsher sentence was a deterrent to anyone else who would think of a similar scheme.This sentence sends a strong message of deterrence to automotive engineers and executives who should think twice before knowingly breaking United States laws for the benefit of their employer, acting U.S. Attorney Daniel L. Lemisch said about the ruling.Liangs sentencing has wider implications for the engineering industry at large, and serves as a reminder that coding is not a neutral activity. Software development is embedded with the biases of its creators, for good or ill purposes.Liangs fate also serves as a more reminder to not be blindly loyal to your employer. Go into your job with eyes open. If you recognize unethical behavio r, take regular notes of whats said or not said, so that you have evidence to show later to higher-ups like human resources, or in extreme cases, court.There have been similar cases in the past that show that courts do not look kindly on the my boss told me to do it excuse.In 2014, former Goldman Sachs banker Fabrice Tourre - who had bragged in emails to friends that he was the Fabulous Fab - was fined $825,000 by the Securities and Exchange Commission and found liable for defrauding investors during the financial crisis by helping to create toxic mortgage securities. Tourres lawyers had argued that that the midlevel banker was not responsible for Goldmans actions or the financial crisis, but it didnt convince the court.Keeping your head down and following orders is a weak defense when it comes time for judgment. It didnt excuse Liang of his role in VWs fraud, it didnt absolve Tourre at Goldman Sachs, and it likely wont excuse you.