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Animal Cruelty- WV

crymcicrymci 1 Post
in HR & Employment Law Vote Up0Vote Down
Just curious if anyone knows the answer to this question. We have an employee that has been charged with several counts of animal cruelty (WV). Her primary job is working with children. Our company policy strictly prohibits misdemeanors/felonies involving abuse of children, but not animals. If we terminated, would this be wrongful discharge?
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  • Cheryl S SPHRCheryl S SPHR 238 Posts
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    Interesting situation. Are you an employment at will state or does your state require cause? Those are some of the questions I would consider. If I were a parent of those children, I would likely have grave concerns. If the person has not yet been convicted, you might want to consider placing him/her on administrative leave until the matter is resolved. I believe you could make a connection between cruelty to animals and lack of judgment in caring for others if the charges stand.
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  • bethkbethk 216 Posts
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    I definitely agree with Cheryl. If someone cannot feel empathy towards a defenseless animal, where does that lack of empathy and compassion end? As a parent I would most definitely not want my child to be cared for by this person. But of course this would depend on whether the person was found guilty. WEven the accusation makes me very hesitant.
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  • Sharon McKnight SPHRSharon McKnight SPHR 737 Posts
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    To crymci,

    As a parent myself, my gut reaction is, whoa Nelly, this person doesn't need to be around children!

    I know that sometimes people who care very much for animals, however, adopt too many in an attempt to rescue pets who have been neglected. They may live in places inadequate for caring for large numbers of animals and/or have inadequate resources to feed and provide appropriate medical care. As a result, they can be charged with animal cruelty when their intent was quite the opposite.

    That doesn't help you in dealing with parents whose gut reactions may lead them to express a considerable level of concern. Placing the employee on administrative leave until his/her legal issues are resolved as Cheryl S suggested very well may be best option for now. With that said, being charged with a crime is not the same as being convicted of it. If I were in your shoes, I'd consult with an employment law attorney before I made any decisions regarding this employee.

    Sharon
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  • tmperrytmperry 31 Posts
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    I'm in WV. We are an employment at will state. You're perfectly able to terminate the employee. Just remember the one thing we continually echo in this state - create a history - first make sure there's not been a situation like this before (charges/convictions that are not specified in policy but you had to make this decision on) - if so, it's best to go with how you dealt with it before. If this is the first time your company is dealing with a situation like this just make note (I put sticky notes in my copy of our policy manual) so if you face a similar situation down the road and find yourself facing a wrong discharge suit, you can defend with past practices. Also in WV we are cautious of terminating someone with charges but no conviction yet. It is doable - you have to do what's best for the business. If these charges are made public and it's damaging to your organization to keep the employee charged with such a crime, then you're within your rights to terminate. Besides, it's in the employee's best interest in some cases to be terminated vs administrative leave - you can't collect unemployment while on leave.

    Just noticed this post was from a couple of weeks ago. Wondering how this has turned out.
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