Deny, deny, deny...

HRanna

This has happened to me twice in the last two weeks, and will probably happen to me again today.

When we hear allegations of misconduct (the current issues have been threatening, name calling and sleeping on the job) we investigate. We only consider an allegation to be true if we have at least two credible eye witnesses.

Once we bring the accused into my office to conduct the last step in the investigation (hear his side of the story) and then issue corrective action, the employee continues to deny everything.

ME: "Twelve people who heard you say this."
EMPLOYEE: "I didn't do it."
ME: "Your Supervisor heard you!"
Employee: "I didn't do it."

I find myself at a loss of how to respond. I know he did it, and he knows he did it. I'm not looking for some witty, snappy comeback. I'm seriously wondering -- what do you say?

Crout

Try "Okay, I'll note your denial, meeting adjourned" Then decide upon the corrective action and inform the employee. Are you expecting that the employee is going to stand up like an adult and take responsibility for his/her actions? THAT would shock me.

dchr9203

I would say, "If you wish to document in writing for the record that you deny these allegations you may do so by mm/dd/yyyy. As for today, based on my invesigation, this is what's going to happen." Dismissed! I'll bet you'll never see a written response.

LarryC

dchr, I've done it this way also. Most of the time there is no written response that follows. Sometimes I get one and that's fine. It becomes part of their file...along with the disciplinary action.

LeeR

Nothing will motivate a person to lie more than the knowledge that they have been caught, are about to recieve some form of punishment that may include looking at becoming unemployed. Fingerprints, DNA evidence and ten thousand eye witnesses and they would still deny their part in it because thats the only way they have any chance of avoiding the punishment.

System

I pretty much handled it the way Crout did. I said what I believed happened and this is why you are being suspended. Don't sit there for hours, even minutes and re-hash the whole thing. Don't even open yourself up to talk about it any further. It's a total waste and you may end up saying something that he can take to an attorney.

Dasher

I second s moll's response. One "deny" is quite enough -- and it's not only annoying when they insist on two and three, but further discussions can lead to opening unnecessary legal issues.

pork1

HRANNA: One thing I noted in your post was of a concern in my thoughts for verbal statements. In doing investigations, I inform the person with whom I am speaking the general nature of the investigation and I then slide a blank piece of paper to the individual and ask the individual to put down his/her thoughts of personal, first hand, eye-witness information. They then sign it and date the statement. From that statement, I begin to seek more information.

Once, I have an understanding of this person's statement and knowledgement along with all other participants, I will study all written and verbal information provided. It is at this point that I am able to discover weak areas in their stories and will recall any of the players for re-direct and clarification.

Once I feel like I know what happened, I approach the employee or ees with direct participation in the subject of the discussion and tell them what I know now "to be fact" and give the person an opportunity to come true with the circumstance.

Once this is accomplished it does not matter if there continues to be denial, I move forward with the appropriate action for discipline up to and including seperation of our employee/employer relationship.

The 10 Danger Zones for Supervisors covers the need to get stories down in written format and properly witnessed signed and dated, in order to lock down the stories and the facts. The document with the "Denying employee's story" then becomes a powerful document for legal purposes of negative personnel actions. Lying then becomes a very powerful hammer used to "nail" the situation down in a positive vein on behalf of the companies' action.

May we in the way of IVAN and now Jeannie have a Blessed day and a greater tomorrow!

PORK