firing a worker with a wcb claim

[bmxninja357]

just looking for a little advice to pass along to my boss.

so the story goes like this....

we have an employee who made a wcb claim at the start of our last busy season. in fact the day before he was to go to work out of town. now we have reason to believe he brought his injury from home but cant prove it.

now this guy has been making a complete ass of himself. going so far as anonymous emails to those we contract too and calling the owner several inappropriate names and such.

so im wondering if anyone here can offer any advice. i had suggested a suspension until such time as he completes an anger management coarse.

any advice is appreciated.

thanks,
ninj

[notorial dissent]

Does the phrase you need a good lawyer ring any bells? Documentation helps too>>>>

[bmxninja357]

we are documenting all we can and the company does have proper legal representation. im just looking at all the possibilities. personally i would have just skidded him when he freeked on the boss.

thanks for the input.
ninj

[Burnaby49]

If you have a lawyer experienced in employment laws the best thing you can do is stand back and let him handle it. This is an area where things have to be done legally correctly or the employee can have a cause for action against the employer. The WCB claim complicates things because he'll possibly use that as grounds for wrongful termination even if the grounds for dismissal are well documented. Everything should be documented. There is nothing that you can do personally that can be of any practical assistance before termination. If he sues afterwards then it is possible you would be asked to testify in your employer's defense as a witness to his antics.

[Fussygus]

Seems we might need a little more information about the situation. Why is the guy pissed at your boss? Regardless of how he got injured, what does he have against your boss that is resulting in his conduct as such? Did your boss claim to WCB that he didn't get injured at work? Or was writing on wall about him getting canned before the incident?

There are a number of possible reasons, but generally conduct such as this is due to a failure in respect. That in some way this individual feels your boss has disrespected him. That your boss dishonoured him first so, he in kind is dishonouring your boss. Where does this go? Straight to the pockets of lawyers.

My advice would be to go back and consider what your boss may have done to cause the perception of dishonour by the guy and consider how to regain the honour. In essence stop the insanity of "your an asshole, no your an asshole", bickering. It does the business no good to perpetuate such a fight. Better to put the ego aside and mitigate a solution.

Sure the guy reasons your boss is an ass are unreasonable, "boss doesn't pay me enough, so my wife left me and I haven't gotten laid in two months", but he is his employee so it is his responsibility to get to the bottom of things.

Call a guy a liar, "he didn't get hurt at work" is an act of dishonour, same as going to work injured. He needs to break the cycle of dishonour. You know the guy who would loose his means of providing for his family is not going to do it because generally speaking a choice between family or work is always weighted to the family.....until the conscious gets involved.

An employee is like a wife/husband, except it is not necessarily until death do you part. If you hire and keep on a lying POS on staff, then expect to take your lumps for lack of diligence. Just the same as if you marry, go into business, with someone without giving proper thoughts about their ethical and moral standards.

have him correct for his dishonour and then see where that goes. At the very least it will show the rest of the employees that the boss is thoughtful and considerate, at best it will give the other guy pause about what he is doing.

When the boss speaks out of frustration he looses credibility. He must take the high road and fall into the trap of dishonour. Don't be a follower, be the leader. Don't follow dishonour with dishonour, follow it with honour.

You have to consider that every employee becomes your child. They rely on your guidance to learn and flourish. Calling your kid a liar and an idiot isn't exactly going to make them what to do anything in your interests. Show them by example what is proper conduct long enough and often enough, and they will learn.

But all his other kids (employees) are watching, so he may not succeed in bringing about an honourable position with this one employee, the effect will be felt with all the rest. Same goes with all his customers. You undermine your own position when you call your kid an idiot to someone else.

He stands to gain/loose much depending on how he handles this opportunity/situation. The deciding factor either way is whether he will honour this man or dishonour this man.

Fuzzy