alleged statements

dynamite9551

an employee called me the other day to advise that another employee made very slanderous comments to someone about office staff and our medical practice. what that person did not know is the persons to whom these comments were allegedly made, is the niece & sister of the employee who called me. so i guess she got this information via 3dd party? anyway, the person who was accused of having said these things will soon be my daughter in law and currently works in our medical office (she does not report to me however) although i am the office manager. while i do not want to believe the allegations, i must investigate the other employee's complaint. it is already a "she said". "she said" situation. one says she did, the other says she didn;t. i do not believe any of these comments can be proven. the doctor involved, also a partner, wants to hold a meeting between himself, the employee accused, the niece who is the accuser, and myself as the office manager. i'm not sure if such a meeting will result in a resolution, but I sure would like some help on how to proceed with this incident. thanks!

Crout

What precisely were the "slanderous" comments? Did she say the when Dr. X wears a blue suit it makes him look fat, or was it something more substantial? My point is that the precise words that were used, coupled with the context of the conversation will dictate how you proceed....and what kind of advice this Forum can offer.

dynamite9551

it was a little more serious. more like which nurse the doc was sleeping with. the other alleged comment was to a potential patient who was informed not to go to a specific location because he was a bad doctor and he sleeps with all of his nurses.

ritaanz

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 06-23-04 AT 10:17AM (CST)[/font][br][br]In addition to Crout's question, surely you must know this "soon to be daughter-in-law" well enough to be able to have a gut feeling about all of this. What's your take on this?

If my mother-in-law were asked the quesion, Do you think ......., her responce would be "Absolutely! Rita is very outspoken or bird-brained or whatever." Got the picture?

dynamite9551

it is difficult for me to image her saying anything of the sort. however, i don't want to appear biased either.

Don D

I will require a diagram or organizational chart subindexed by family in order to respond.

System

I tried to make a flowchart to figure out who said what to whom. Gave up on that. What matters is whether or not anyone did indeed make a remark that may be discriminatory to an employee in a protected class. Find out what the alleged 'slanderous remark' pertains to and determine if it's something you even need to act on. We need a little more information.

Don D

I'm giving up on the chart too. But, here's what I'd do. A partner in the firm has asked for a meeting. Attend the meeting. I assume the man asking for the meeting will speak. Listen to what he says. Listen to the others. If they do not speak, ask, "OK, what's up, let's hear it. Let's have it." At some point I may also say, "I must recuse myself from this process since the alleged perpetrator is my soon-to-be daughter-in-law and I don't want my objectivity questioned."

You may be well advised to check around in your circle of friends for a new job for your son's fiancee'.

marc

This could get interesting. Attend the meeting called by the partner and let him take the lead. If you start thinking through possible scenarios, very few outcomes will not put you in a very awkward position because of your relationship with the alleged perpetrator. If the accusor backs off or they kiss and make up, you can just ride through it and smile knowingly.

If the situation does not resolve itself and further actions are needed, then you will be looking squarely at Don's suggestion that you recuse yourself because then you cannot win. Either your daughter-in-law-to-be did make the comments and you must get involved in the discipline process, which will make that 4th of July family bbq a lot of fun, or you end up with her side and be forever accused of bias. The subsequent morale issues in the workplace could be quite damaging.

Play the hand out a bit and see what the other players do before you toss in the cards and wait for a hand you can win.

Whatever

Some thoughts in addition to the above. First, is it possible your future daughter-in-law doesn't want you present at the meeting? Second, how can anyone hold a meeting without first having done some sort of investigation. Finally, but maybe most important (and without wanting to sound facetious), do you have to revise the wedding guest list?

Crout

If you have witnesses and they are credible I don't see how you can salvage your future daughter-in-law's employment. The comment made to the patient is particularly damaging and cannot be tolerated. But you should do as Don suggested and separate yourself from the termination. Since, as you stated, your future daughter-in-law does not report to you, it seems to be rather simple to me to excuse yourself from the proceedings. I feel bad for you, but I hope you take from this tough situation the value of having a policy on nepotism.

LisaMN

I'm going to use this scenario as I make my case for not hiring any more family members of our employees/medical staff/board members etc. Geez, I get so tired of this kind of stuff xx(. What a sinkhole for time and energy with no chance for anything but a negative outcome.

Don D

As I am sure Rockie will tell you, if you fire everybody who says a doctor is dipping his pen in company ink, you will be mighty short staffed from now till eternity.

Pork

THE DOCTOR IS RIGHT! YOU DO NOT NEED FOR THIS TO CONTINUE ANY FURTHER, AND THE PHYSICIAN IS THE MAN TO DO IT!

PORK