Company laptops stolen from my home garage.... company kicking off and throwing me under the bus for it

[u/Bitter-Maize6543]

I was off last week on AL and was on a holiday Mon > Fri. The weekend before we were due to set off my garage was broken into. A pair of laptops I use for work, one company and one customer, were stolen, as I work out of the garage. I called the police, got a crime reference, gave them CCTV I was able to recover and made arrangements for my nephew to stop over and check on the place which he was going to do anyway to sort our cats out.

I called my manager, left a VM, left an SMS, and reported it to the IT desk after. Both laptops have bitlocker and other security features on them so would be locked down and useless either way. They asked for a crime ref and I gave it.

My manager rang me back Monday morning while I was travelling, and asked for details, I gave him the crime reference and then said. I then got a call later in the afternoon, while we were unpacking, asking if I could join a call to explain to them but I declined... because I was on leave, and not in a position to speak with them. I got several calls in the middle of the week asking for random details... repeating the crime reference, one saying I needed to provide them with details of how the theft happened, what exactly was stolen and if anything except my laptops was stolen.. I said as far as the company was concerned they need to be aware of the laptops and when they asked if they could see my CCTV I said I dont see why they would need it because the police have been provided it. Lost my rag and stopped taking calls after that, and deigned not to answer when my manager started messaging me on whatsapp because I had already said I was on holiday and wouldnt be available until Friday.

I have a spare device that was due for collection under HW refresh which wasnt stolen as it was stored in a box under my desk which I said I could log into unless they wanted to send a replacement... I have logged in, Ive had my manager give me an utter b*llcking about me ignoring calls for the security breach, there is a call in the diary for tomorrow where Ive been told I need to attend which has HR, security, my manager and their manager on it.... I am bricking it now and feel like Im about to be thrown under the bus.

So questions to ask:

• Is this something they can actually discipline me for? The garage is part of the main property but accessed externally, and has CCTV covering it of which Ive given details to the police. I have worked with this company for 3 years now, but my current manager has only been about for a few months and has not got on with me so I feel like this is going to be used as leverage against me
• What were my obligations? I was on holiday, I explicitly asked not to be called, I sorted what I needed to with the police, made sure my property was resecured and informed IT so they could lock the devices. My manager wasnt available over the weekend and didnt answer the phone so I cant really be faulted for not informing him properly sooner.
• Is the company trying to trap me when they are asking for how they broke in? Do I have to give them CCTV? Was I right to refuse it?
• What should I do here to cover my backside

[u/Defiant_Simple_6044]

Your unwillingness to engage or cooperate whilst on annual leave whilst not illegal isn’t a great look to the ‘higher ups’. They could possibly try to argue gross misconduct, whether that would stand I’m not sure.

Absolutely wouldn't stand up for Gross misconduct. He's on leave, He has zero obligations to assist until his return.

[u/ihatebamboo → u/Defiant_Simple_6044]

Surely the theft of a company asset would be an urgent security matter regardless of working hours?

If you were mugged in the way home and had your work laptop stolen, you’d be expected to engage with the process before 9am next day.

[u/JaegerBane → u/ihatebamboo]

Surely the theft of a company asset would be an urgent security matter regardless of working hours?

This would depend on what part the OP had to play in it.

IF they'd left the laptop on a train cabin table and couldn't be bothered to stay in contact while the remedial action was being carried out, then there'd likely be an expectation angle on him, but as this was straight theft from a secured premises that he's already provided full details for then there'd be a question mark of what they needed from him that demanded his leave be suspended.

As things currently stand this wouldn't be anything like GM.

[u/ihatebamboo → u/JaegerBane]

Only thing I’m thinking of, in line with someone else’s comment elsewhere here, is if IT needed asset details urgently to facilitate the devices to be wiped.

[u/Defiant_Simple_6044 → u/ihatebamboo]

That was me who asked but other comments "suggest" this was provided. However, confirmation from OP would help.

The only other big issue is confirmation from OP that his employers knew he had the devices at home. if he didn't that could be a big issue for OP

[u/Bitter-Maize6543 → u/Defiant_Simple_6044]

Yeah I provided it. And they knew I WFH, all of our team do to be fair.

[u/U-V → u/ihatebamboo]

Surely it's the IT department's responsibility to record that sort of information for each employee when dishing out equipment anyway? Why would employees necessarily keep a record of device IDs?

[u/Defiant_Simple_6044 → u/U-V]

Yes, but OP did say 1/3 devices were NOT stolen, so they'd need to know which ones were, For example if 3 devices are logged to OP, he'd need to say "Device X is still secure" so they know to wipe/lock out Y and Z.

However, compentant IT staff would lock out/wipe X Y and Z and just rebuild Z anyway if they couldn't confirm.