URGENT! Please Help!
TN HR
1,170 Posts
Sorry for the abrubtness of my post, but here it goes:
EE, on his day off (Saturday night) walks into the plant's maintenance shop, visibly intoxicated, leaves his just-wrecked vehicle in the parking lot, and asks another EE to take him home.
Tuesday morning, EE reports to work, and we term him for violation of company policy (coming-in off-duty, drunk, into the maintenance shop and creating an un-safe and hazardous condition). He loads his toolboxes into the back of another EE's truck and leaves the premises. End of story, right?
Wrecked vehicle still in parking lot. Conflicting stories on how/what happened. I became suspicious and called the local police department to make a report on the vehicle and have it towed. Police arrive and as it turns-out, the vehicle was involved in a serious hit-and-run accident involving personal injury and severe property damage minutes before the EE showed-up at the plant on Saturday night.
Call from EE this morning, had to be taken to the hospital last night because he "injured himself while loading his tools while on company property". I know this to be an absurd claim since myself, along with the maintenance manager were present and he did not appear to injure himself in any way.
Questions to the forum:
What's my exposure on the hit-and-run, evading police and hiding-out at the plant, and the fact that another EE, on the clock but on lunch took him home (accessory to the crime?)?
How do I handle the "alleged" WC issue regarding the "injury" that he claims to have sustained while loading his tools?
Any help I can get on this will be greatly appreciated. This guy is a lose cannon with a long history of poor performance, substance abuse and absenteeism which, unfortunately, was never documented by the previous managers or my predecessor.
THANKS!
Gene
EE, on his day off (Saturday night) walks into the plant's maintenance shop, visibly intoxicated, leaves his just-wrecked vehicle in the parking lot, and asks another EE to take him home.
Tuesday morning, EE reports to work, and we term him for violation of company policy (coming-in off-duty, drunk, into the maintenance shop and creating an un-safe and hazardous condition). He loads his toolboxes into the back of another EE's truck and leaves the premises. End of story, right?
Wrecked vehicle still in parking lot. Conflicting stories on how/what happened. I became suspicious and called the local police department to make a report on the vehicle and have it towed. Police arrive and as it turns-out, the vehicle was involved in a serious hit-and-run accident involving personal injury and severe property damage minutes before the EE showed-up at the plant on Saturday night.
Call from EE this morning, had to be taken to the hospital last night because he "injured himself while loading his tools while on company property". I know this to be an absurd claim since myself, along with the maintenance manager were present and he did not appear to injure himself in any way.
Questions to the forum:
What's my exposure on the hit-and-run, evading police and hiding-out at the plant, and the fact that another EE, on the clock but on lunch took him home (accessory to the crime?)?
How do I handle the "alleged" WC issue regarding the "injury" that he claims to have sustained while loading his tools?
Any help I can get on this will be greatly appreciated. This guy is a lose cannon with a long history of poor performance, substance abuse and absenteeism which, unfortunately, was never documented by the previous managers or my predecessor.
THANKS!
Gene
Comments
Still learning though.
>What's my exposure on the hit-and-run, evading police and hiding-out
>at the plant, and the fact that another EE, on the clock but on lunch
>took him home (accessory to the crime?)?
I would say none, no exposure at all. Unless the company or the other employee were actually involved in the hit and run, its cover up or the hiding away of one guilty of a crime.
>How do I handle the "alleged" WC issue regarding the "injury" that he
>claims to have sustained while loading his tools? This guy is a
>lose cannon with a long history of poor performance, substance abuse
>and absenteeism which, unfortunately, was never documented by the
>previous managers or my predecessor.
>
The employee's past performance, poor performance or substance abuse is not relevant to the current situation, nor is the company representative's failure to document. You and the witness should sign statements regarding the loading of the tool box and its removal. Let the comp carrier handle any claim. I'm sure they'll deny it. But, let it run its course. The man is dismissed. You have no obligation to re-employ him relative to a pending comp claim.
By the way, I think you did a swell job of getting the law involved, leaving the car alone and letting them investigate and remove it. A lesser thinking HR person would have had someone in the maintenance department tow it over to the man's house where it would have summarily been disposed of or sold.
Most likely trying to use this as a way to appear more sympathetic with police. SOunds like you handled everything great. I would notify my WC carrier, explain the scenario, and tell them if they get anything from him to deny deny deny!
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman
Gene
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman
Ps. Today is my Friday x:D leaving for 2 days of golf and poker at the lake............ahhh a boys weekend!!!!!!
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman