Mail Fraud

ritaanz

I have two employees(one is a department manager and the other a subordinate)that are receiving dozens of magazines, unsolicited gifts, etc. at their home addresses. This had been going on for about 2 months. They both have filed complaint papers with the Postal Service.

Through a glitch in the postal system,SURPRISE!, one of the employees received the post card that had been completed to start one of the subscriptions and brought it into my office. They asked if I could look to see if I could match the handwriting with someone that works/worked here. We had a reduction in force several months ago, so I started looking through those files and located a terminated employee with the same handwriting. There is no question that the handwriting matches. This ex-employee worked in the same department with the 2. In addition, there was always the question of how anyone could get these home addresses. This particular ex-employee's wife works for the Division of Motor Vehicles.

Now, my question....what responsibility, if any, does the company have? These 2 employees want the company to call the police and file charges against the ex-emplloyee. I have managed to put this situation off until Monday.

Terry

While I cannot quote any laws here, my gut says for the company to stay out of it. This is a private matter between the individuals and the alleged ex-employee. If they wish to file charges, they shoud do it themselves. The mail was being sent to their private residences, not work and the alleged culprit is an EX employee, not current.

Theresa Gegen TX

I agree with Terry. The question a company should ask itself (even if it sounds cold hearted) is "What is in it for the company?"

Here, there is nothing in it for the company to get involved. But there is a big downside. If the company calls the police, the person is arrested, and charges are brought, and then dropped (which is not unlikely), the ex-employee could sue the company for malicious prosecution.

If the current employee wants to, he or she can call the police and file a complaint. He or she can get an attorney and seek a restraining order. He or she can sue the ex-employee for harassment. If that employee doesn't feel strong enough about the issue to make a complaint, why should the company.

Good Luck!

Terry

I would also think if there is an investigation of any sort and the officials come knocking on the door of this ex-employee, they will be shaking in there boots. As a general rule of thumb, I try not to mess with the Federal Government. If the current ees want to further obtain info, they could write a letter to the businesses where they are receiving the mags, gifts, etc and explain in addition to cancelling whatever they have been enrolled in, that they have been victims and any info they can supply to catch the culprit would be appreciated. Who knows they may end up with!

Rockie

I agree this should be between the employees. We had an incident where we terminated an employee for prescription fraud and she targeted an employee at work who she said "got her fired". She called and harassed her at home (not work) and vandalized her car (at home). We had the employee handle it through local law enforcement.

By virtue of the fact that you have handwriting comparisons and have verified the handwriting, you will probably be contacted by the investigating officer to get samples of the handwriting, so...essentially, you are already involved up to a point.

Even in our situation, we were contacted by the investigating officer as to the circumstances of the termination, etc. as this was the basis of one of the harassing phone calls.

ritaanz

Thanks to all of you. I shall keep you posted as to the outcome.

ritaanz

Here's an update....The police department advised employee to go to Motor Vehicle and file a complaint. The employee discussed his problem with a MV supervisor. A special investigator was assigned. Upon a check of drivers' license and vehicle registrations, the ex-employee's wife was found to have pulled up both employees files. According to the investigator, she will be questioned as to why she accessed the files. If there is no reasonable explanation, she will be fired.
Then the next step would be to press charges against the ex-employee for mail fraud and theft of identity, a class 4 felony.
More to follow.