Answer to Question of the Week: The Case of the Bathing Employee
Last week’s question was based on a true story. Here it is, along with your responses . . .
Let’s say you’re head of HR for a prominent fast food restaurant chain.
Late one Friday, you get a call from an area manager informing you that an employee apparently thought it would be a good idea to get naked and take a bath in one of the restaurant’s sinks. Not only that, but another employee captured the entire event on video and posted it on MySpace and YouTube, where it’s already been seen by several thousand people.
The area manager forwards you a link to the video. You watch it and are horrified. Basically, it’s three-and-a-half minutes of a mohawked and heavily tattooed employee who calls himself “Mr. Unstable” taking a bubble bath in the very sink where the restaurant’s cooking equipment and utensils are cleaned. Various employees can be seen milling about, including a manager who is specifically asked to check out the incident but declines to do so. You then get a call from the health department, notifying you that they’re on the way to the restaurant to make an inspection.
What should you do first to reduce legal risk?
a. Fire the bather, his cinematographer and the apparently negligent manager immediately (14%)
b. Take immediate steps to address all employee/customer health and safety concerns (32%)
c. Engage in the ADA-required interactive process with ”Mr. Unstable” to determine if he’s disabled under the law (1%)
d. Investigate and take appropriate corrective action (44%)
e. Call your attorney because you may face a breach of privacy suit for accessing MySpace and the YouTube video without the employee’s permission (5%)
f. Quit your job and pursue a profession other than HR (5%)
The correct answer is “b.” Employee and customer safety and health always come first. That’s especially true when you know that the Health Department is on its way for an inspection.
Potential legal liability (and PR backlash) could be massive if immediate steps aren’t taken to address health and safety. Imagine the class action plaintiffs that would line up if they found out they ate burgers prepared using equipment washed in the same sink as “Mr. Unstable” without some kind of super-intense sterilization process.
Your top choice — investigate and take appropriate corrective action — is the next-best answer (in my humble opinion). It’s critical to do that as well. The employer in this case did so and fired Mr. Unstable and just about everyone else involved.
If you’d like the real facts on this rather unsavory tale, the news story is here and the video is here. Proceed at your own risk — it ain’t pretty.
Our visitors are now batting a robust .485 (16 right, 17 wrong) on our Questions of the Week. The next one will be coming your way soon.
As always, thanks for your participation!