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Discipline / Investigations

Showing restraint: Ensuring worker safety with workplace protective orders

09/23/2008

A disgruntled employee is terminated for poor performance. On his way out, he threatens his manager and co-workers. Fortunately, situations like this usually end with the terminated employee cooling off, filing for unemployment and getting on with his life. But what happens when the employee doesn’t let it go? …

Apprentice forms and paycheck deductions

09/23/2008

Q. One of the positions in our manufacturing company has a formal apprenticeship program. To stay accredited, we must submit monthly reports showing the number of classroom training hours in which each apprentice participates. Submission of these forms is mandatory, and yet every month there are always some apprentices (for whatever reason) who fail to submit their forms. Can we withhold a portion of an apprentice’s paycheck at the end of the month until we receive the training reports? …

Was worker claiming harassment part of the problem?

09/22/2008

Employers are supposed to make sure that harassment doesn’t happen—and stop it if it does. But sometimes, the employee complaining the loudest may actually be part of the problem. If that’s the case, the responsible thing to do is to stop all the harassment, from all the participants …

DCA employee used his consumer affairs position for personal gain

09/22/2008

David Biederman, former consumer education coordinator for the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs (DCA), pleaded guilty in August to two counts of conducting unlawful business transactions, a fourth-degree offense.

Freehold education administrators go back to school … sort of

09/22/2008

The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) has found that three Freehold Regional High School District administrators who attained advanced degrees from a purported “diploma mill” did not intend to deceive the district.

Another worry when complaints get to court: Retaliation may be criminal conspiracy

09/15/2008
Here’s another thing to worry about when an employee testifies on behalf of someone suing the company: Retaliating against that employee by punishing him with additional or new work requirements or a poor evaluation may lead to federal criminal conspiracy charges …

Clayton school board members sacked for ethics law violations

09/15/2008
Gov. Sonny Perdue issued an executive order to remove four members of the Clayton County School Board and to confirm the removal of two others after the school system’s accreditation was revoked on Aug. 28 …

Post this story to curb employee credit card abuse

09/15/2008
Donna Gamble, of Marietta, whose purchase card abuses cost the Georgia Institute of Technology more than $300,000, has been sentenced to two years and eight months in federal prison and ordered to pay full restitution to the university …

That wasn’t in the job description

09/12/2008
When 20-year-old Spencer Taylor showed up for the latest Batman feature “The Dark Knight” in full Joker disguise, employees at a movie theater in Three Rivers took him for an unusually enthusiastic fan. But when he started making real-life mayhem in the lobby, theater employees had to subdue him until police arrived …

You can’t ignore—or excuse—Offensive cultural symbols

09/09/2008
There’s no excuse for ignorance when it comes to racially hostile symbols and speech in the workplace. Employers that ignore harassing co-workers—hiding their heads in the sand or relying solely on handbooks that tell employees how to complain—may be setting themselves up for a losing lawsuit …