Hostile Work Environment?
sandykaz
4 Posts
An employee has been 'turning his coworkers in' to our city council who has directed our police department to conduct investigations into 4 separate alleged incidents of theft. The employees were approached at their work site by detectives and questioned out in the open. Voluntary searches of employees private property have occurred, and internet records subpoenaed. The detectives would not provide the name of the person making the accusations, although the employees are confident they know who it is. The allegations have not been substantiated, and are potentially unfounded; possibly even malicious, although I don't know how that could be proven. This has obviously placed great strain on the working relationship, and two of the alleged 'thieves' have approached me about this, and (verbally) claim that this coworker is creating a hostile work environment for them with his unfounded accusations. It seems that the employee doing the reporting is the one who is protected by whistleblowing laws. Do these employees have a potential hostile work environment claim if the alleged harassment isn't related to a protected class factor? What about constructive discharge? As the employer, what action would be recommended?
Comments
Bring the kiddies in to a room, without accussing anyone, reiterate the need for all to work in harmony. Tell them that recently you have observed a lack of such harmony and that it concerns you. Anyone caught contributing towards this unharmonious aura will be dealt with.
Nothing in the scenario you described is remotely actionable.
Gene
First off, you don't know for sure who is making the complaints. Second, if he is making false accusations and leading police on wild goose chases, that sounds like a matter the police would want to address.
I don't think bringing them all in a room and telling them to play nice will help either. It would if they were reasonable, but the actions you have described don't sound like those of a reasonable person. I think you would only be stirring up trouble for your company.
My opinion anyways.
I would recommend talking to the Police Department about this explaining the environment this is creating after consulting with your employment attorney (this is one we would definitely be talking to our attorney about to ensure protection of company records).
Would also ask the Police what their recommendation is since their search has seemingly not supported the accusations. What is their next step? What will they do in case another accusation is made? Do the individuals being accused have the right to know what they're accused of and who their accuser is - defamation sounds like a distinct possibility especially if the search and questioning was done in a public place.
Good luck!