Discipline / Investigations

Prepare to show you would have disciplined even if employee wasn’t a whistleblower

01/22/2019

Sometimes, an employee may decide to take revenge if she perceives she has been unfairly disciplined. If she does so by becoming a whistleblower, she may believe that protects her from eventual termination. That’s not true if the employer can persuade a court it would have disciplined or fired her whether she reported alleged wrongdoing or not.

Count errors to make a solid case for discipline

01/16/2019

If it’s possible, quantify any mistakes employees make. For example, if you can count specific errors, track the number.

When it comes to discipline, details matter

01/16/2019

Smart employers are ready to counter charges of discrimination with details about the underlying reasons for discipline.

Take care when disciplining whistleblowers

01/10/2019

An employer must show it would have taken the same action against an employee even if he had not blown the whistle.

Document why you had to discipline difficult employees

01/08/2019

Some employees are competent but disruptive. At some point, you must decide: Is she worth keeping or is it time to terminate her? When making that decision, be sure to carefully document the disruptive behavior and which workplace rules she’s violating.

Track each supervisor’s disciplinary patterns

01/03/2019

Discrimination is often manifested by individual acts, not a systemic, organization-wide problem. That makes it important to track discipline by supervisor.

What is our obligation to warn about medical providers who are on probation?

12/22/2018

Q. We are a small medical practice. I heard that if one of our providers is subject to probation by their licensing boards, we must warn patients. Is this true?

Stop a crime, lose your job

12/18/2018

A CVS clerk and a pharmacist in Indiana have been fired for tackling and detaining a man who tried to steal oxycodone and then assaulted the pharmacist.

Document rule-breaking to explain discipline

11/27/2018

Employees are protected against retaliation for complaining about discrimination. But that doesn’t mean you can’t discipline them when they break rules.

Sued for bias? Prepare to turn over discipline records

11/21/2018

When an employee alleges that discrimination caused him to be punished more severely than other workers outside his protected class, his lawyer will probably demand disciplinary records relating to other workers. Be prepared to hand over those records.