Reporting possible criminal activity
LBORN
4 Posts
Through the grapevine I heard an employee has been telling co workers that she is suspicious that her boyfriend is sexually abusing her two-year old daughter. I am feeling very compelled to report this to the local authorities, but I seem to recall a court case where an employer was sued for doing something very similiar. Does anybody remember this court case, or any thoughts on possiblity liability?
Comments
Give me a break. 8-|
Whatever happened to talking to the employee directly about their allegations before jumping off the pier - or better yet - telling them to go to the authorities themselves & not bringing this stuff up at work...
If any citizen has a bonafide suspicion then they are obligated to make a report to the proper authorities. Again, here in TN that complaint can be made 100% anonymously and it will be handled with the same sense of urgency as a 911 call from Jacko's Neverland Ranch.
Gene
Well, at least it will cut down on water cooler conversations.
My sarcasm to this post is by no means indicative of my thoughts/feelings regarding child abusers and the safety of children, it's directed more to the HR professional who would treat a "grapevine" at work as a sole source of truth & not seek more answers BEFORE taking the action of reporting what was heard third person. I would treat this information the same as if it was an issue of sexual harassment at the company or some sort of discrimination, I would go to the source to investigate. I would find out from them why they are hesitating in reporting, why are they bringing this up at work, what advice do they seek, now that it's brought to the company's attention, how can we help, have you contacted the EAP, etc. I'm not suggesting that it's up to me to decide if it's true or not, but before I report it, as an agent of the company, I want to, at a minimum, hear it first person.
I don't know about others, but when it comes to certain matters, and in an abundance of caution, I'm going to make the tough call.
Mwild, given the current climate with terrorism and workplace violence, how would you handle ee "gossip" regarding a planned act of terrorism to be carried out in your facility?
This is not an easy decsion to make. You have several different factors you need to examine.
Your first priority as an HR professional is to protect your company from any legal action. With that in mind, ask yourself this question... Is your company willing to take the chance of having to defend themselves for misuse of confidential company information. Such as releasing an employees home address without her permission. You MIGHT be able to get around that if your ee signed a background check releasing the company of any liability connected to using your personal information. You may not. I don't know, this is just a thought that you could explore. Maybe contact your legal counsel regarding that one.
If your company IS willing to get involved, then be prepared to see this through. Although someone mentioned that you can make the call and be anon, they will more than likely be able to trace the call and know where the call is coming from. If your company is not willing to get involved, then you need to explore other avenues to report this information, if you feel that this is what you should do.
A dishonest idea would be to set up a scenario which could possibly eliminate liability from your company such as; approach the ee, start the conversation off with something such as, this is totally not work related and is off the record, but I was working on my Christmas cards, and I would like to send you one. Can I have your home address?
Unfortunately (or fortunately) employees personal lives DO intertwine with professional lives, it's just that the personal side that HR is used to dealing with is FMLA and WC and ADA. All these issues involve both professional and personal working relationships.
Other areas to consider when involving the workplace is that if the authorities do take action, people at work might end up being involuntarily involved by being called as witnesses in court.
I really think that you need to think this through for the benefit of your company and possibly consult with your legal counsel. I understand that a child is involved here and that it should be his best interest in mind. I sincerely sympathise with the hurt and need of this child, and I wish it could be less complicated, but you DO also need to consider the repercussions your company might face.
My thoughts and prayers go out to this child and her mother.
It does not have to involve the company, the call can be made anonomously, from home or even a payphone on the street.
Lisa
Worst case scenario for me reporting? - Family Services comes in, investigates & finds nothing wrong. No harm, no foul. Worst case scenario for me not reporting? - Reading about it on the front page & knowing I could have done something to stop it.
I remember in an Interpersonal Communications Class I took in college an exercise entitled "Tin Can". The exercise involved the entire class seated in a semi-circle & the instructor began the exercise by reading a detailed account of a story about this guy and his green car to the first student in the circle. The student then was supposed to 'memorize' the story as told and then repeat it to the next person & this went on and on until the story was told to the last person. The last person then told the instructor what the story was about. If you haven't gone through this exercise, can you guess what the last person said? Basically, it had nothing to do with a guy, a green car or a car for that matter or any of the other details. This could be expected, but what was unexpected (for us students) was how the story changed from the first person the instructor told the story to to the second.
Child abusers are scum - no doubt about it. If one of our employees came forward & said they had heard about possible child abuse from another employee, I would thank them & then ask the employee making the accusations to come to my office to talk. Again, not to make the determination, but to hear it first hand and then help them in any way to make the call or make it myself. Relying on that second or third person interpretation of a conversation & then making a decision based on that information doesn't work for me. I mean, how do I know what the person who's coming to me to spill the beans about a conversation they overheard or participated in doesn't have their own agenda?
PORK, May the mother and child have a blessed day because one caring sole called and reported the rumor from the grapevine, I hope it would be me that stopped the future events from happening.
and if she confirms that she thinks her boyfriend is a pedophile I would hand her my phone with the CPS number speed dialed into it. Next number would be to the hospital to have the child examined.
Are you saying that if when you spoke to the employee and they denied ever saying anything, then you would drop it?
My concern is that the employee might not tell the truth for several reasons. Fear their job is somehow jeopardized, or more importantly be in fear of the boyfriend. She herself could be the victim of abuse and when confronted by what she perceives as an authority or feels threatened, just deny everything.
Far better to report and let CPS trained investigators handle it. ALWAYS err on the side of the child.
When my son was small I had to administer some medical treatments to him that he didn't like. Needless to say he screamed very loudly and said things like "Don't", "Stop", and "You're hurting me". I was a single mom living in an apartment and knew there was a chance something might be reported.
I would never have been upset if someone had erred on the side of my child and I had to be investigated and evaluated, etc. He was worth it!
Every child is worth the risk of embarrassment, being hassled, liability, etc.
How many times have we read about the "I don't want to get involved" syndrome? We're appalled by it. Don't waste time with investigations and interviews. Let the pro's do it.
Remember with discipline, you discipline the action, not the outcome. So I am puzzled why you would treat 2nd or 3rd hand maybe said/done information differently? If instead of possible child abuse, it was stealing purses out of cars would you call the authorities? Yes the crime is different, but 3rd hand maybe knowledge of anything?
Interesting dilemna. Easy to say I would not mind be investigated for possible abuse, but of course that really depends on how the investigation is handled. Would you feel the same way if your neighbors were within earshot as the child services person said "We have received a report of suspected abuse".
While I understand the not minding part, as someone who would not abuse a kid, my own or other, I would be extremely offended if an investigation was started based on some crap 3rd hand heresay.
If someone saw something that was misinterupted fine, but because so and so said that they thought maybe.............. I am not sure how I would react.
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman
PORK
To answer your second question, I would do this as a private citizen. If I was not closely associated with the childcare industry as a choice, would I still report? Absolutely! Not to break up families, embarrass or anger parents or any of the things that might happen when the situation has no merit. But all to protect the child. How much embarrassment or inconvenience should we put up with to protect our young? I do not know if there is a good answer to that, other than to say a lot.
Finally, if this turned out to be idle chatter and completely untrue, I would be to angry to think clearly about it. Once I calmed down, I might have another go at the rumor mills in the company and take people to task for the pain and misery promoted by this sort of thing.
LBORN, we did not mean to run you off, just wanted a chance to speak up to give you a very diverse opportunity to receive well meaning advice.
Let us know how it all came out, otherwise, LBORN, you might NOT get any responses to your future postings!
PORK