Firing

Good faith is good enough for discipline

10/10/2013

When you are investigating employee wrongdoing and deciding on discipline, you don’t have to get everything exactly right—as long as you act in good faith and aren’t trying to set up someone or use the disciplinary process as a pretext for discrimination.

Firing for ‘dishonesty’? Offer specifics about what happened

10/09/2013

Like most employers, you probably have general rules about what constitutes a firing offense—and “dishonesty” is probably on the list of no-no’s. It’s a vague term, subject to interpretation. That’s a good reason to make your disciplinary records specific.

Honest investigation all that’s required

10/09/2013

Do you sometimes worry that you made a mistake during an investigation? Or that you believed the wrong person? You needn’t lose sleep over it. Courts won’t second-guess your decisions if they believe you acted reasonably and in good faith.

Fired for death threats? No unemployment for you!

10/08/2013

A Commonwealth Court has ruled that a Ridgway man who was fired for threatening his bosses can’t collect unemployment benefits.

Get rid of bad apples! Act fast to fire worker who won’t stop slurs despite warnings

10/02/2013

What should you do when an employee keeps spouting offensive racial slurs despite repeated warnings to stop? Fire her before she says or does something that leads to a lawsuit.

Less liability if you knew of disability on hiring

09/16/2013

Some employers worry that hiring a disabled employee increases the chances they will be sued for disability discrimination. Don’t worry needlessly. The fact that you knew the employee was disabled actually helps later if he sues for discrimination.

Independent investigation key to clean terminations

09/10/2013

Before you terminate an employee for breaking a company rule, be sure that you have someone else look at the situation. Never rely strictly on the supervisor’s view of events.

Calling supervisor to complain about alleged racial slur is protected activity

09/09/2013

Employees are protected from retaliation for complaining about alleged discrimination. The complaint is considered protected activity. Something as simple as calling a supervisor to complain about a co-worker’s racial slur is protected.

Cursing car salesman can’t get unemployment benefits

09/03/2013

A car salesman fired after he cursed and threatened a customer has been denied unemployment benefits.

Can we fire admitted drug user, or should we offer time off for treatment?

08/20/2013

Q. We have an employee who has been performing poorly and who has shown up for work appearing to be intoxicated. In a discussion with a manager, the employee admitted that he was currently using cocaine and it was affecting his personal and work life. We haven’t done a drug test on the employee, given his admission of drug use. We want to fire the employee, but we aren’t sure if the FMLA or any other law requires us to give him time off to undergo treatment?