Even before the multibillion dollar industry of rage bait news, most recently in the form of brief videos that are so loud and so fast that you do not have time to think about whether what they are saying is credible, gained steam, you would still often read articles in the news that made you think, “That should be against the law,” especially about the reckless and corrupt actions of corporations. From environmental pollution to mistreatment of workers or endangering the public, businesses seem to be able to get away with almost anything. The instances where members of their leadership face criminal penalties for dangerous and harmful actions they undertook in their official roles are the exception to the rule.
Even though it is only the most egregious cases that make the news, companies get caught breaking the rules all the time, and if they do not bring their organizations into compliance with the law, they often face penalties, usually in the form of monetary fines. This means that regulators constantly monitor businesses’ activities to ensure they comply with the law. If your workplace is not under investigation now, it might be targeted in the future. Workplace ethics investigations can make workers feel vulnerable, even if they had no hand in the alleged misconduct. You might worry that you will lose your job as a consequence of the investigation, or even that you are in danger of facing criminal penalties.
The Boulder ethics investigations lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys LLP can advise you on cooperating with a current investigation at your workplace or on filing a complaint that would lead to an investigation.
Businesses are Not Above the Law
Entrepreneurship training programs, especially those peddled by shady social media influencers or life coaches, sometimes sell you a fantasy of being your own boss and then bossing everyone else around. To the relief of workers, and perhaps to the dismay of the most Machiavellian bosses out there, this is not how things work in the business world. Every industry is subject to regulations at the national, state, and local levels. These laws arose only after people started to see what happened when businesses went unchecked. Even people who mostly found American history class boring remember the terrible tale of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory disaster, when dozens of workers died in a fire at a factory because their supervisors had locked them inside.
In other words, we have laws regulating the safety of working conditions for workers and limiting hazards that business activities might cause for people other than employees, such as customers who buy the company’s products or people who live near the place of business. Consider that asbestos, once a widespread consumer product, is now illegal in the United States, and until several decades ago, many household paints contained lead.
Physical safety is not the only workplace-related matter that laws regulate. There are also laws prohibiting discrimination and retaliation, as well as laws ensuring fair pay. In other words, the law prohibits employers from abusing their employees financially or emotionally.
Why is Your Workplace Under Investigation?
Regulators inspect businesses regularly, and some businesses must periodically submit reports documenting their compliance with laws. Inspectors may visit businesses at any time to ensure that there are no safety hazards; if you read the local news carefully enough, you often read about health inspectors ordering a restaurant to close temporarily until the staff have cleaned the kitchen well enough to comply with legal requirements. Likewise, businesses must file tax documents quarterly. Thus, some investigations are routine.
Other investigations begin because someone, whether an employee or a customer, notices something untoward going on at the place of business and notifies regulators about it. For example, an employee might contact the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to complain that the employer has not provided adequate protective gear for when employees are working with hazardous materials. Likewise, the spouse of a nursing home resident might complain to regulators that the nursing home is understaffed or that she saw nurses not wearing gloves when they were supposed to be wearing them. Customers might also complain to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) about unfair business practices, such as deceptive advertising or the business charging customers junk fees.
Protecting Your Rights During an Investigation Into Your Workplace
Reporting misconduct at your workplace to regulatory bodies like OSHA, in the case of workplace safety hazards, or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), in the case of employment discrimination, is a legally protected activity. This means that your employer cannot penalize you by taking an adverse action against you simply because you made the report. An adverse action can be something as definitive as firing you or something as subtle as being dismissive and sarcastic toward you on a consistent basis. Adverse actions, when they are a response to a legally protected activity such as reporting misconduct, count as employer retaliation, which is illegal.
Filing a complaint about misconduct is a legally protected activity, and so is participating in an investigation that someone else initiated. Regulators will respond to the complaint by coming to your workplace and talking to other employees to see if they can corroborate the statements that the original employee made in the complaint; the regulators might also contact you by email, even if they do not go to your workplace in person. Cooperating with an investigation is a legally protected activity, too.
The states are even higher when the misconduct leads to a criminal investigation instead of or in addition to a civil one. You have the right to plead the Fifth Amendment if answering a question truthfully, whether in a civil or criminal investigation, could lead to you getting criminal charges.
Contact HKM Employment Attorneys, LLP, About Ethics Investigations
The Boulder employment lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys, LLP, can counsel you about initiating or participating in a workplace ethics investigation. Contact the employment lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys LLP in Boulder, Colorado, to set up a consultation.
