AIW for leaving a logic bomb in my old company's automation script?
I used to work for this mid-sized logistics firm as a BIM and mechanical engineer. About a year ago, they asked me to help out with a side project involving some custom automation scripts in Python to handle their NWC exports and data sync. Since I was already on the payroll and liked the challenge, I built them a pretty robust system from scratch. It saved them dozens of man-hours every week. Everything was fine until I decided to move on for a better offer. They tried to guilt-trip me into staying, then got weird about my final payout, nickel-and-diming me over "unused equipment" that was literally junk.
Before I handed over the admin keys, I modified one of the core scripts. I didn't delete anything or steal data, that would be illegal and honestly just too much work. I just added a simple date-check function. If the system clock passed a certain date without a specific encrypted handshake from my personal server, the script would just... stop. Not crash, just return a null value and log a generic "server timeout" error. I figured if they paid me what they owed and kept things professional, I’d just send them the "final update" to remove the check. They didn't. They ghosted my last three emails about the missing bonus and the reimbursement for the Revit plugins I paid for out of pocket.
Fast forwaкd to last Tuesday, which was the "kill date." My former supervisor reached out frantically saying the whole export pipeline is down and their new hire can't figure out why the logs aren't showing any syntax errors. He asked if I could "take a quick look as a favor." I told him my freelance rate is triple my old hourly and I require a retainer upfront that covers my missing bonus. He lost his mind, calling me a saboteur and threatening legal action. I told him good luck proving that a script I wrote "as is" and they accepted months ago didn't just hit a bug I missed. Now some of my old coworkers are texting me saying I'm being a petty prick and hurting the team, not just the bosses.
I don't feel bad. I spent seven years getting good at what I do, and I'm not a charity. If they want the automation to keep running, they should have honored the contract. They think they bought the cow, but they only paid for the milk. My wife thinks I should just give them the fix to avoid the drama, but honestly, I'd rather watch the logs stay empty. I'm currently sitting here working on my Passat B6 while my cat Bonik watches me, feeling zero guilt about their broken pipeline .