The Employer’s Legal Advisor

Confronting the Employee with the Facts

Now that you have the supervisor’s statement and the witnesses’ statements, what do you do? The next step is to confront the offending employee with the offense and the facts against him. At this point, you must exercise judgment whether or not to confront the employee with all facts or just the ultimate facts. Then the employee should be given an opportunity to state his defense or excuse. In labor arbitration, this is called “due process,” and some arbitrators require that it be done or they will overturn an employer’s discharge decision on the grounds that it was not for “just cause” under the terms of the union contract. This concept has crept into the psyche of U.S. workers and juries alike, so it ...