Author: Dorsey & Whitney

Observations About Workplace Violence, Quirky Question # 43

Observations About Workplace Violence, Quirky Question # 43

Quirky Question # 43: We are a governmental agency.  There recently was a highly publicized situation in which an employee at a company across town shot and killed his two supervisors and wounded several other employees before taking his own life.  Yesterday, one of our more problematic employees, known to have a strained relationship with his boss, was overheard remarking...

Quirky Question # 42, Investigation Inquiries

Quirky Question # 42, Investigation Inquiries

Quirky Question # 42: This week I’ve decided to take a slightly different approach to my Quirky Question Blog.  I recently presented a Continuing Legal Education seminar on Workplace Investigations, at the end of which I received a number of thoughtful questions from the audience.  Although these questions are not particularly quirky, I thought they were worth addressing.  The following...

Unethical Conduct By Employee, Quirky Question # 41

Unethical Conduct By Employee, Quirky Question # 41

Quirky Question # 41: I am the Director of Human Resources for a manufacturing firm.  I was recently contacted by the manager of a motel located near our office.  The manager informed me that one of our employees (an outside salesperson) has been stopping at the motel in the morning, picking up one of the “free” newspapers, eating the “free”...

Working Another Job While Taking “Leave,” Quirky Question # 40

Working Another Job While Taking “Leave,” Quirky Question # 40

Quirky Question # 40: We have an employee who is claiming she has a serious health condition as a result of work-related stress and has given us a note from a nurse practitioner saying she should be off work for a month.  We don’t believe she has a serious medical condition, in part because we’ve heard that she is working...

Bad-Mouthing the Company, Quirky Question # 39

Bad-Mouthing the Company, Quirky Question # 39

Quirky Question # 39: I am the operations manager for a food distributor.  One of our other managers, a long-term employee, was recently demoted to a position that places him in frequent contact with our customers.  He was unhappy about that demotion and has filed a charge of age discrimination with the EEOC. One of our customers has now called...

Disclosing Information Regarding Past Felony, Quirky Question # 38

Disclosing Information Regarding Past Felony, Quirky Question # 38

Quirky Question # 38: Our company is a food retailer.  We hired a convicted sex offender, who, after serving time in prison for his felony conviction, had been released.  Given that he had “paid his debt to society,” we felt that we should not refuse to hire him because of his prior conviction.  Moreover, because the job for which he...

Company Liability for Employees’ Cell Phone Use While Driving, Quirky Question # 37

Company Liability for Employees’ Cell Phone Use While Driving, Quirky Question # 37

Quirky Question # 37: Our company employs a number of salespeople who spend a significant part of their time driving between customer appointments.  Our sales manager keeps track of their schedules and often calls them when he knows that they are driving between appointments, as this is a convenient time to check in with them.  Do you see any problems...

Voluntary Leave Policy, Quirky Question # 35

Voluntary Leave Policy, Quirky Question # 35

Quirky Question # 35: I am the HR Director for a large company with operations in Alaska.  Our Alaska-based employees work on a rotating schedule of two weeks on / two weeks off.  Many of these employees commute from the Outside (Lower 48) for their two-week rotations.  During their rotation, these employees live in company provided housing and are transported...

Bogus Lawsuits, Quirky Question # 34

Bogus Lawsuits, Quirky Question # 34

Quirky Question # 34: We continue to confront periodically lawsuits from former employees that are utterly frivolous.  Some of the claims make you shake your head in disbelief.  We’d like to file malicious prosecution lawsuits against the individuals who file these bogus claims. Are there any downsides to this approach?  Could someone argue that the lawsuits we are contemplating are...