What Not to Do During Workplace Investigations

San Diego Defense Attorney Ally Keegan discusses how making statements to your employers during an investigation could hurt you and your criminal case.

Office Address:
Law Office of David P. Shapiro
3500 5th Avenue
Suite 304
San Diego, CA 92103
619-295-3555

Hi, my name is Ally Keegan, and I am a criminal defense attorney at the law office of David Shapiro in San Diego, where we help good people regain control of their future, when charged with a crime.

Today, I want to talk a little bit about a situation people commonly find themselves in, that can adversely affect a criminal case down the road. And that involves, when you are accused of some sort of wrongdoing by your employer. The most common types of cases, where this ends up going criminal, could be embezzlement or identity theft, any sort of those, what we call, white collar crimes or business related offenses. As well as obviously, sexual misconduct allegations or anything like that.

Now, it's hard to recognize sometimes, because when you're called into an interview by your boss or HR or someone, it's not like when they sit you down and start talking to you, they're going to read you your Miranda rights, unless they're law enforcement. But you don't necessarily have that red flag right off the bat, to recognize that this could be something that might end up being harmful for you.

So, it's good to know that anything you do say can eventually be used against you as evidence. This of course, applies in the event that you have some sort of a professional license, be it medical, pharmaceutical, insurance, real estate, contractors, licenses, anything like that, where your statements could be used against you to revoke your license. But more importantly, and this applies to everyone, professional license or not, any statements you make of admission or denials, anything you say at all, could later be turned over to law enforcement and used against you in a criminal investigation, as well.

Now, what workplaces often try to do, is twist your arm. And they say, "Well, look, if you're not going to work with us, if you're not going to say anything to us, then we have no choice but to suspend you, pending further investigation." Terminate you all together, something like that. And it's to put that pressure on you to get you to cooperate. But, at the end of the day, going to jail or prison is never worth keeping whatever job you have, because if you're going to be facing criminal consequences like that, you're not going to keep your job, regardless.

So, you want to make sure that you're putting yourself in a position where, if you do make any statements, you speak to a qualified, reputable criminal defense attorney in criminal defense firm first, so that they can help you make any statements, if they think that will help you. You can always add information later, to your workplace, but once you've made those statements, it is very, very hard, if not impossible, to take them in the back.

So, one other common trick that we see a lot is, your employer will say, "Look, we're not trying to get the police involved. We're not trying to contact law enforcement. We just want to find out for our own purposes." But keep in mind that they're always going to have some sort of incentive to report it, if something criminal did happen, because that's a liability to them. If they know that a crime or some sort of offense may have happened, in the scope of the employment, then it might help them, liability-wise, to report it to law enforcement. So it's on you and not them.

So, the general takeaway is, don't make any statements that... try not to make any statements at all. If at all possible, just keep your mouth shut, be respectful. Say, "Look, I understand. I'm open to talking to you, just not right now. Let's take a day." And then you call a criminal defense attorney, this first, second, or first chance you get. You talk to them about it and then you make a game plan from there, before you do anything that you might not be able to take back, and that's going to come back to bite you down the road.

So, if you have been accused by an employer of any sort of wrongdoing, or if you are under investigation and you've already made statements to an employer, and you think that you might be under criminal investigation, go ahead and give us a call. Our phone number is [phone].

[cmritchie]

You should make it clear, if you are talking to your boss it is NOT criminal it is civil action they are looking into on behalf of the company you/them are working for. LAW enforcement will decide any criminal action. If the boss/employer pass it along his or her information iit is third party. You boss is not law enforcement in most cases.

[CCROGGY]

I was threatened over the phone at work and was blamed for it. I filed a report. What should my next steps be?

[roberthall]

Let them prove their case. You are not required to defend yourself. Gather all accusations.

[galloe]

What if you're on the other side of the investigation and were identified as a witness? Per work policy I am obligated to cooperate with the investigation and participate in what they call "Confidential Administrative Interviews, " but from what I understand is that confidentiality has to be maintained by us, the witnesses, and we are forbidden to discuss anything in relation to the investigation with other coworkers, yet that same confidentiality is not given to witnesses. Our names will be disclosed to the accused party if the allegations are found to be true, so our safety is in question and open to potential retaliation. How is this legal? Why can't we remain anonymous and our names kept confidential when they're requesting the same from us? Is there any way around this one-sided process? If not, what incentive do we have in even cooperating and not pretend we don't know anything about the allegations?

[cedricwillis]

I have a question I'm suspended pending investigation cause I was on my phone due to an emergency passing now I ask for my shoo steward they can't find one so the meeting was scheduled another day still no shop steward so I attended my meeting with employee relations counselor at end he ask if I have any proof of my relative passing a obituary he needs to see which I feel is very uncomfortable do they have the right to even ask or see this