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Discipline / Investigations

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.

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.

Don’t assign disciplinary points for reporting injuries

11/19/2018
A federal court awarded a machine operator in Wisconsin $100,000 in back wages and compensatory damages after he was fired soon after reporting an on-the-job injury.

Employee who complains isn’t immune from discipline

10/25/2018
Employers can’t retaliate against employees who file discrimination or harassment complaints. But that doesn’t mean you can never discipline those employees.

Clearly document the rationale for disciplinary decisions you make

10/22/2018
Before disciplining a worker, be sure to think about how you might defend the decision later. Then document all the reasons why the employee deserves the punishment you propose.

When you must correct borderline misbehavior

10/17/2018
We’ve all known people whose behav­ior, while not illegal or a firing offense, just isn’t very nice, and we’ve all seen the damage such people can do to morale and productivity.