Several years after grad school, I was hired to be the chief scientist at a biotech firm near the LA airport.. Several months after beginning work, I began questioning the scientific basis for the drug detection instruments they were making and selling, mainly to governmental agencies. I began doing experiments to determine if they had what they thought they had. What I discovered was that the drug detectors they were producing were responding to ammonia, such as in baby diapers, and not specifically to illegal drugs, like cocaine (ammonia being a trace substance in cocaine purification). They were detecting an artifact.

I wrote up my work in a report and presented it to the Technical VP. The following morning, his executive assistant came into my room and with much embarrassment told me to collect my things and that he was escorting me to the parking lot. I was fired.

About six months later, I happened to meet the Marketing VP at a local restaurant. He came up to me and told me, “You were right. The company collapsed and is now in bankruptcy.” Sweet revenge.