my worker lied about having COVID

Posted On Jul 26, 2020 By admin With Comments Off

A reader writes 😛 TAGEND

I work for a mid-sized organization that serves children of all ages, most of whom have special needs. Recently one of our( now former) works admitted that they had lied about receiving a positive diagnosis for COVID-1 9( presumably to get paid leave through the new paid leave law, even though we never dissolved up them and they never actually indicated that was the reason for their fraud ). In the end, we learned that this individual never actually went to get researched though they’d assured us they had, and then lied to us again by reporting that their experiment decisions had come back positive.

We had requested documentation to show that they were” under advisement of a healthcare professional”( as required by the new paid leave law) but they were unable to produce any, even though they had assured us several days earlier that they would bring it in when they returned to work. During subsequent discussions, they continued to insist they had been measured but could not obtain any proof. Eventually, they confessed that they had not consulted with a healthcare professional nor had they been tested( nor received a positive diagnosis) as they’d reported. All communications with the employee were electronic so we have a good record of what percolated. We fired them for the dishonesty.

Meanwhile, though, “were having” closed the part equipment for several days, some areas of the building for over a week, and we had hired an outside contractor to help our custodial crew scavenge and sanitize the facility. We likewise paid hires their regular payments throughout the closure so the cost to the organization was not insignificant, although it was felt so when compared with the immense feelings agitation that happened: works panicked, patrons panicked, the leaders of the organization labor around the clock for several days to position disaster schemes and communications parts in place … It was a very stressful and uncertain time for everyone involved, as you can surely imagine.

We have recently learned that the Department of Justice has created a hotline for beings to report supposed COVID-1 9 relevant hoax, and that have already been prosecuted employees for same piques( understand one example here ). Our question is whether we are in any way obligated to report this work and if so, what exactly would happen if we do report? I’ve been invited to call the hotline to ask about their process without providing distinguishing items( yet) but I am undecided if that is the best course of action. We don’t have the resources( nor the wish, frankly) were involved in a lengthy legal clash. Furthermore( and despite the obvious indignation that someone would lie about a positive diagnosis during a frickin’ pandemic) we can not simply even sure we are able to ” out” them because they are a) quite young and possibly” that naive”, and b) they were relatively new to our constitution so we never got a very good sense of what may have been going on behind the scenes that might’ve made them to behave this way.

Busa, what do you think? How would you start? Should we call in the feds? Or should we just drop it in hopes that losing a job in a hard economy is beating fairly for the purposes of an inexperienced young adult?

I’d report it.

I can’t speak to what happens after you make a report, but I’m sure you can call the hotline and ask and then decide from there.( My guess is that they’ll take a report from you and then investigate it like they would any other crime, announcing on you as a witness when needed — but you should ask them immediately .)

But this isn’t “I feel like staying home so I’ll lie and say I have a sore throat.” This is someone who engaged in genuine fraud, justification you to lose significant money, and imposed serious calamity on your business and mental distress on your staff members and clients.

What’s more, they committed to the fraud over and over, on multiple parties, before eventually admitting only when they were backed into a region. If they’d come clean the first time you’d questioned them — or even if they’d seemed genuinely contrite and scared at their actions — then I could see simply leaving it alone, post-firing. But this was real fraud, with significant ramifications. I’d report it.

Update: I’m changing my view on this to” don’t report it ,” thanks to a lot of truly persuading arguments in the comment section. Specifically 😛 TAGEND

* The work didn’t receive the sick leave monies she was trying to obtain. She did cause expense to the business and other calamities to parties, but that’s not something you take to the DOJ and doing so is unlikely to procreate the business whole.

* You peculiarly shouldn’t take it to this DOJ, which has a unspeakable track record on actual right, and thrown this administration’s interest in terminate pandemic assistance.

RTAG