At least until the past few years, when we flew into a cynical panic about chatbots usurping both our jobs and our emotions, adults used to be in the habit of asking children which profession they wanted to practice when they grew up. Children tend to choose based on how much they will enjoy the work. What could be more fun than baking cookies and decorating cakes all day? So why not be a pastry chef? Children who love animals often aspire to be veterinarians or zookeepers. Teenagers tend to choose based on how much good their work can do in the world. They choose to become doctors and nurses so they can heal the sick, or they choose to be architects so that they can design environmentally sustainable buildings.
Once you enter the workforce, though, money plays a larger role in people’s decisions. No child dreams of growing up to be a dental hygienist, but plenty of young adults enter this field, because people will always need dental treatment, so hygienists’ services will always be in demand; besides, that, the work always ends at 5:00, so there will always be time to wait tables or drive Uber if you need more money. When you are in the workforce, you see people who make more money than you ever will break the rules multiple times and get away with it. You need the income you get from your job, so what do you do when your bosses break all the rules? Do you snitch, or are you complicit in their unethical, and sometimes outright dangerous, behavior? The Bozeman ethics investigation lawyers can help you exercise your legal rights if your workplace is under investigation for an alleged breach of ethics.
Employers Behaving Badly
Federal and state laws determine not only what individuals can do without fear of legal penalties, but also what corporations can do. Companies can face penalties for crimes such as money laundering and fraud, just like individuals can. Beyond that, government agencies regulate certain industries or business activities. For example, companies are answerable to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regarding safe working conditions for their employees and to the Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding fair business practices.
Sometimes corporate leaders get away with all sorts of ethical misconduct, and sometimes even crimes. You might have heard about dangerous products that stayed on the market for decades; for example, people used to use artificial snow made of asbestos as a Christmas decoration until reports emerged that asbestos is carcinogenic. In some cases, people injured by corporations that knowingly sold dangerous products can file lawsuits and seek compensation for their injuries. The investigation into situations where a corporation knowingly endangered the public or its employees sometimes begins with complaints by customers. Other times, they begin when a current or former employee notifies authorities about the misdeeds going on at their workplace. When this happens, law enforcement or the relevant regulatory bodies begin a formal investigation.
What Could Trigger an Investigation at Your Workplace?
To some extent, it is a matter of chance which legal violations and wanton breaches of ethics go unnoticed and which become the subject of an investigation. Several things might make regulators suspicious. For example, they might conduct a routine inspection of the workplace or audit of its records, as part of their normal regulatory duties, and they might see something untoward that makes them want to investigate more closely. A claim or complaint filed by a worker could also be the starting point for an investigation. For example, an injured worker might file a workers’ compensation claim, and the employees who review the claim might notice that the accident would not have happened if the workplace had observed legal standards of safety. Therefore, they might report it to OSHA, which might investigate further.
A workplace ethics investigation might also start with plain old negative publicity. Disgruntled customers or employees might talk trash about the business on social media, and even if they post anonymously, it might pique the interest of regulators or even law enforcement if the complaints are specific enough. Online rumors do not, by themselves, constitute evidence of wrongdoing, but they can warrant closer investigation.
Your Rights if Your Workplace is Under Investigation
Filing a report that could trigger an investigation at your workplace is a legally protected activity. It is against the law for your employer to retaliate against you for filing a workers’ compensation claim, reporting safety hazards in your workplace to OSHA, filing a discrimination complaint with the Montana Human Rights Bureau or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), or notifying law enforcement about criminal activity that you have witnessed.
Likewise, it is a protected activity for you to participate in an investigation about legal violations, including but not limited to crimes, that may have happened at your workplace. Therefore, your employer cannot retaliate against you for responding to an EEOC counselor’s request to interview you about a discrimination complaint filed by another employee. Your employer’s actions might count as retaliation even if your employer does not fire you. A hostile work environment, where your employer micromanages you or makes threats or derogatory comments about you, also counts as retaliation if the precipitating event was you engaging in a protected activity, such as participating in an ethics investigation.
How an Ethics Investigation Lawyer Can Help You
It is natural to be nervous when representatives from a regulatory body that is investigating your workplace want to interview you. If you lie, you will certainly get into trouble with the regulators, but if you tell the truth, this can also cause problems with your employer. It is a good idea to contact an employment lawyer as soon as you find out that your workplace is under investigation, even before the investigators contact you directly.
Contact HKM Employment Attorneys About Ethics Investigations
The Bozeman employment lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys LLP, can counsel you about workplace ethics investigations. Contact the employment lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys in Bozeman, Montana to set up a consultation.
