Ethics

NaeNae55

Your opinion please:

We have an employee (A) with boundary issues. They have been dealt with and the employee has improved significantly, but a new situation has come up.

Employee B (in middle management and very trustworthy) is in a nearby grocery store and sees A coming down the isle eating a cookie. B looks down in an attempt to avoid being spotted by A. Moments later A exits the store, and a store clerk is heard shouting, "There she is!". Several store employees gather at the door some even exiting for a few minutes and then more conversation such as, "You can't do anything as the evidence is gone." The result is that B now believes that not only did A steal the cookie from the pastry area, but that A is a repeat offender at this store.

There is some concern from management that A will be arrested and it will reflect on us somehow. I am personally struggling because I have family that works at that store. Still, I think it would be unethical to report our employee unless A is actually caught by the store. I am hoping your feedback will confirm my feelings. If you disagree, please say so and tell me why. I really need some guidance here. I am too close to the situation to be objective. :help:

sonny

To whom would you report the employee?

Frankly I would stay out of it. .

cnghr

I agree with you, Nae, that it wouldn't be right for you to report the employee. Leave it up to the store to catch her. If employee A does this on a regular basis and the store is aware of it, they're going to catch her sooner or later anyhow, and I would feel a little foolish reporting it (to whom...the police? the store?) based upon employee B simply seeing A eating a cookie in the store and assuming that she had stolen it (even though employee B is probably correct).

As the employer, I would definitely stay out of it.

Still Need Coffee

This is a tough situation, but in the end, it is not up to each and every employer to act as an extension of the police department. For me, the bigger issue would be whether this employee exhibits the same sort of behavior at work.