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The Law At Work
Q. Our small school district operates a community swimming pool, which is managed by a school district employee. I recently received a call, as the superintendent of schools, from the mother of a young child. The caller claimed that the male pool manager had made both her and the child uncomfortable by entering the women’s dressing room repeatedly while they were dressing. Hoping it was a misunderstanding, I asked the manager about it. To my surprise, he admitted he had entered the dressing room, but said he did it to hurry the mother and daughter along. He told me he’s frustrated with how long many of the pool patrons take to dress after swimming. Regardless of the reason, I believe this behavior is unacceptable. What do you recommend I do about it?
A. I agree that the school district must ensure that no male employee enters an occupied women’s dressing room for any reason other than a true emergency. The school district could face liability for any such conduct, and of course it never wants to make pool patrons uncomfortable. Using your personnel policies as your guide, the manager must be made to understand, in no uncertain terms, that neither he nor any male may enter the women’s dressing room, period, and that if he does it again he will face serious consequences, up to and including termination. If you’re considering terminating him or any other employee, remember to contact your AMLJIA Employment Law Hotline (877-426-5542) before you act.
Q. Our city’s ads for an accounting position generally require a two- or four-year degree in accounting. We’ve had applicants in the past who have foreign degrees, and I don’t have any idea how those measure up to the standard we’re looking for. An accounting professor at U of A has told me they don’t give any credit for some of those degrees, which they view as more like high school diplomas. What can we do in recruiting these jobs without stepping in legal trouble for some kind of discrimination?
A. The city may require a degree from an accredited post-secondary institution, as long as it is prepared to accept applications only from the graduates of these schools. In the alternative, you could require a degree from either an accredited school or a school that a neutral party such as U of A would accept as equivalent to an accredited school. That way, when the London School of Economics graduate comes your way, you won’t have to turn him/her down out of hand.
Q. It’s common knowledge that one of our Village Public Safety Officers has been bringing alcohol into our dry community, and I’ve seen him with the alcohol myself. I’ve tried talking to him about it in the past, but it has continued. Although it will be hard to recruit a new VPSO, as Mayor I’d like to fire him. What can I do?
A. This kind of conduct is almost certainly grounds to fire the VPSO. He’s endangering the health and safety of the community, violating the trust placed in him by his job. If he’s an at-will employee, I’ll look at your personnel policies and write a memo notifying him of his termination. If he is not at-will, then I will write a similar memo informing him that you are considering terminating him and setting a time and date for a predisciplinary hearing, as required by the law for public employees who aren’t at-will. After the hearing, you can decide whether to fire him, and the Hotline can assist in that step as well.
The Employment Law Hotline, available to member managers, supervisors, and personnel directors, offers a FREE 30-minute consultation with an AMLJIA law firm in the area of employment liability. Call 877-4AMLJIA (877-426-5542) before you make employment-related decisions and protect your entity from
employment liability.
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