The truth comes out

I went to our Wisconsin office to learn a particular portion of my job. When I got there, the person who was supposed to train me told me that I am doing only one part of the job, and I didn't need for him to teach me that part. He then proceeded to refuse to teach me anything else on the grounds that there was no need for me to know any of it. The co-worker with whom I was traveling contacted the controller and asked him what I was supposed to be learning, and her interpretation of his answer was the same as the guy who was supposed to be training me.

Yesterday, I spoke with the controller myself, and it turns out that I am supposed to be taking all of the fixed asset work off of the WI guy's hands. All of it. Not just the reconciliation - everything. So basically, he either lied or he misunderstood the directions from the controller, and I traveled for a week for nothing but a nice new pair of boots. Now the controller is going to speak with him personally about it, and I am going to have to return for some actual training.

Here's the thing... This guy who is supposed to train me did some questionable accounting transactions in 2004 that caused the company to restate its financials, which is like the touch of death to a publicly owned company. It lead to SEC and investor litigation which has only recently been resolved in favor of our company (whew!). There is a possibility that he is refusing to hand over this project because he is hiding something. Or he may just be a control freak. Or he may be trying to hang on to it for job security. Who knows. Whatever his reasons, he's going to have to hand it over completely to me in the next two months and get over it. I had a feeling that my taking this from him would cause friction, and I was right. Sometimes I wish I would be wrong about these things.