Plant Services - September 2007 - (Page 75) plaint should be removed in time from the complaint and based on factors unrelated to the complaint. Julie Badel, partner Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. (312) 499-1418 jbadel@ebglaw.com A corporate consultant says: Although there’s enough blame to go around here, the primary culprits in my view are the ombudsman and the Vice President of Operations. Where were they in this case? Of course, all parties have a fiduciary responsibility to adhere to compliance standards and to report relevant data honestly; but an ombudsman and a senior executive have an even higher standard. Neither took action to protect employees, surrounding communities, or the organization. Acme deserves to suffer whatever penalties the law allows, but this case illustrates the validity of imposing legal responsibility on individual employees as well. Lewie’s lack of integrity knows no bounds because, in addition to lying about performance data, he seems content to be open about it, willing to share his disregard for the law. Lacking a sense of honor, he trivialized worker safety, and lied in writing about Phil taking another position. His assumption of impunity is staggering, yet he didn’t have the guts to own up to his own decision to terminate Phil. It’s hard to imagine a less competent HR staffer than Cara. She failed to engage in due diligence, failed to meet her own deadline for a two-week review of Phil, failed to ensure a proper performance review process, and was complicit in Phil’s termination. These are astonishing mistakes because they violate the most basic premises of the HR function. Worse, there were no less than three instances that should have caused Cara to escalate the situation, yet she ignored each: the moment she realized the issue was beyond her understanding; when she realized that an ombudsman and the VP of Operations had been informed; and when she realized that the situation was moving toward a termination. There’s no way to avoid a situation like this when the organization is devoid of any honor or responsibility. Centralized or not, this problem was inevitable because Acme’s leadership knowingly and willingly disregarded the law safety issues. Acme’s objective was to neutralize the whistleblower; the objective should have been to operate with integrity. Hopefully, Phil will live large for the rest of his life from the settlement Acme would be wise to negotiate. Francie Dalton Dalton Alliances Inc. (410) 715-0484 fmdalton@daltonalliances.com September 2007 Falk Complete Solution - 3.27 x 4.89.qxp 7/25/2007 11 FALKTM DRIVE ONE® The complete drive solution! Falk Drive One has the complete solution for conveyors, mixing, pumping, and most heavy duty drive applications. Call for details USA: 414-342-3131, South America: 56-2-231-5647, Europe: 44-1484-401842, Asia-Pacific: 65-6-444-0388, China: 86-21-64977890, Australia: 61-2-4962-8000 www.rexnord.com 1-866-REXNORD www.PLANTSERVICES.com 75 http://PattersonFan.com http://PattersonFan.com http://www.rexnord.com http://www.rexnord.com http://www.PLANTSERVICES.com
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