My company just fired me and I was the only person who knew anything
about the systems or could even access them.  Now they don't have
administrator access to a lot of their systems and their demanding
that I give them a whole list of passwords, some of which I don't
have.  Do I have any obligation to help them?  I was hugely underpaid
for my position and I think that the reason they fired me is because I
asked for more money.  btw, I work in Arizona.

I live in nevada where the Gaming industry has the NERC Nevda equal
rights commision in their pocket. I don't think they can do anything
to you. You don't work for them anymore and it was their
responsibility to have you record the passwords for their own
protection. I am not an arrorney.  The right to work states are hard
on the employee.

You may need to use them as a reference for some subsequent
employment, so I suggest you offer your services as a consultant for
not much more than they were paying you. If they refuse, it is mostly
their problem. If they do take you on as a consultant, I suggest you
solve the problems you (and others)created for them as quickly as
possible, and they might re-hire you full time. Even if they shaft you
again, you will have done the honorable thing. I think you are
over-rating your value as an employee if you can not set up a password
system that is close to idiot proof.  Neil

Neilzero - It's not easy to do the 'honorable' thing to a person who
has essentially cut your feet out from underneath you.  You would
under-rate my value as an employee, I don't need to count my deeds. 
In any case, they've caved, offered me 3 times whta I was making as
contract work, which will help out a lot.  I can recover their
passwords, that won't be a problem.  An idiot proof password system? 
what, you mean like blank passwords on everything?  or maybe the name
of the company? like that?

Congratulations on the 3 times salary increase. I suggest you work
very hard to deserve that much money, and avoid even a hint that you
have a bad attitude..
 I confess to venting about pass words as I find them frustrating even
for the little bit I do on computers. If you can devise an idiot proof
system that is semi- secure, you should have a very bright future.  
Neil

fool proof password system well as near as you can get it, this is what i do :
every day dump the entire users lists passwords to floopy AND onto
hardcopy on a local printer from your systems Admin machine, then walk
to the bosses office and put the disk wrapped in the hard copy with
the date written on it in his/her safe.
Make sure users cannot change passwords more than once per day without
your permition, and ig they do make a seperate note of the passy, If
they dont allow the outputting of passwords to systems admins then
copy the password file in its encoded form onto gloppy and re-writable
CD and maybee a removable hard disk and / or a USB memory pen from
again the system admins station, personaly i just use the floppy
hardcopys and USB stick

Did you sign/consent to anything at the time of your employment that
said that you had to provide this information to them?

Thanks!