November 17, 2004

NY Fed hit by inside saboteur?

Another day, another threat. Here's the story of an electrician who was caught using a strange device with strange wires inside the electronic bowels of the New York Federal Reserve. Rather than pre-judge this one, I'll put my say in the comments on the site. You be the judge!

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/251774p-215484c.html

How a guy's gizmo spread fear at Fed

BY THOMAS ZAMBITO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

It nearly sparked a financial catastrophe.

An electrician's homemade gadget wreaked havoc on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, causing computer convulsions at a facility that houses the world's biggest cash vault, the Daily News has learned.

The foulup short-circuited the career of journeyman electrician John Cravetts, who was fired though he insists he meant no harm.

But it could have been much worse, according to papers filed in Manhattan Federal Court.

"The results could have been catastrophic," said Barry Schindler, an attorney for the New York Fed.

Fed officials say they might have had to shut down computers that process some $2.5 trillion in funds and securities payments and $4 billion in checks every day.

Fortunately, backup systems kicked in after the Nov. 17, 2002, incident.

The heavily guarded facility in East Rutherford, N.J., is also home to a vault that handles more than $1 billion in currency, coins and food coupons.

Cravetts, 62, was canned two weeks after the incident. A surveillance tape caught him using the crude device - two red wires strung between an ordinary household switch and plug.

He later filed an age discrimination suit and also charged his firing was retaliation for reporting an electrocution hazard at the facility where he'd worked for almost 10 years.

Manhattan Federal judge Harold Baer tossed out Cravetts' claim this week.

"I had an unblemished record," Cravetts told The News yesterday.

"What I did was in good faith. I did not do anything malicious," added the licensed electrician, who has since found a new job. "What do they think I'm going to do, sabotage it?"

Although Fed attorneys presented a near-doomsday scenario in court filings, Fed spokesman Peter Bakstansky downplayed the incident yesterday.

"There was no point at which the operations of the Fed were in danger," Bakstansky said. "We stopped him. ... We have a lot of redundancy."

Cravetts had been asked to locate circuit breakers on the Fed computers that had not been properly labeled.

He used his gizmo to conduct the search, plugging it in and tripping breakers, knocking out power as he went along.

Cravetts told The News his superiors knew he used the device. He had made four of them at work.

Fed attorneys say he should have used a device that sends a harmless tone back to the breaker and doesn't cause disruptions.

Cravetts said that for more than a year, he had asked his bosses to order the manufactured device needed for the job, but they never did.

Originally published on November 11, 2004

Posted by iang at November 17, 2004 04:23 AM | TrackBack
Comments

Basically, the Fed overreacted.

It would seem that the electrician was going about his normal business, and something went wrong, something dramatic enough to cause backup systems to kick into play and bosses to be woken up. As he was using an unapproved device, that gave his superiors something to hang him on, and they had their man.

The real issue was why that happened in the first place, but by having the excuse and the sackings, this permitted the bosses to cover up the real ommissions that must have been going on for years. In all probability, the bosses have not even thought to go fix the original flaw that allowed a single circuit breaker to bring down some key systems.

That was coverup #1. The electrician fought back and on the face of it quite fairly. Filing against the Fed brought in the lawyers, who took the accident and dressed it up into a three-mile-island meltdown scenario. That's what lawyers are paid to do, right?

Which of course was escalation, and again, here's cover up #2. Now the Fed has to face questioning of how he was able to do so much damage in the first place (he wasn't, but they said he was) as well as the core problem of how a guy who has worked there for 10 years gets sacked for using a home made tool?

The coverup caused escalation, and further coverups. On the face of it, this seems to be a classic case of poor HR management in an institution that probably needs a good shakeup.

Posted by: Iang at November 17, 2004 05:02 AM

The draconian reaction of the Fed shows the distance the Federal Enviroment bas traveled within the span of 20 years. Basically the isolated world of the Fed has disregarded the workers rights and promoted the use of a dangerous or un approved device. Cravetts has been damaged. If Cravetts had a good union boss he woulld shut the facilities down via a strike, but he is probably being paid off by some means. The Electrical Trade in the New York metro area was enhanced by strick educational standards and work rules. This proactive union the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers would have in the past shut all the buildings down and dare any other uniton to cross its lines. Now a Supervisor is allowed to violate the work rule with an unapproved device endangering Cravetts and the system. The Unions created the standards and enforced them because local inspectors where too corrupt to and everyone benefited from this self regulated action. Now Cravetts was trained within this enviroment and created a solution for an issue. Instead of addressing the problem the Fed, the Union, and the Supervisors found an easy out by firing Cravetts. The only party that has an obligation to react is the Union since the Fed and its supervisors are taking priviledge with a weakened corrupt Union. I realize that this might be a suggestion against the national security but the IBEW should strike and shut down all facilities their members run in and around the New York Metro Areas this should highlight the issues the workers have with poor standards and bad procedures.

Posted by: Jimbo at November 19, 2004 05:58 AM