Joe knocked lightly on the slightly opened door.

Good morning, Joe. Come in," Nichols said as he set aside a report he was looking at.

Morning, Fred. Connie said you wanted to see me." Joe said as he sat down in a chair across the desk from his boss.

We've found out who's been stealing our windows from the test lab," Nichols said simply. "Now, we just need to determine what to do about it."

Nichols showed Joe the video from one of the closed circuit cameras. Sure enough, there was one of their manufacturing lead persons walking nonchalantly out the door, carrying the window. According to the time stamp on the video it was about a half an hour before the employee's shift was to start.

I've been down to the parking lot," Nichols continued. "There's a large rectangular something in the back of his car, covered with a blanket. I'm guessing it's our window." just can't believe Dan would do that," Joe said incredulously. "He's been with Fab longer than I have." know," Nichols said, "that's what's so disheartening."

The two men considered their options. First, they could call the police and have Dan arrested. Second, they could call Dan up to the office and find out why he felt that stealing was appropriate, and give him a warning. or, third, they could fire Dan.

Let's call him up here," Nichols instructed.

Dan arrived a few minutes later in Nichols' office and was confronted with the theft. He offered no excuse other than the fact that he was building a house, needed windows, and they usually went really cheap at the sale, but couldn't wait until then. He continued aggressively...

Nichols called Carrie Tapp, Human Resource Manager, into his office and Dan was fired. Joe and Carrie escorted Dan to his desk to gather his things, and then out to his car to retrieve the stolen window. Although no formal announcement had been made regarding Dan's departure, the company grapevine quickly spread what had happened, and the result was an understanding that the company would not tolerate theft, at any level.
Fab could have pressed charges on Dan. It was completely within their legal rights to do so, but Dan had been a good employee, in the past, and Joe and Nichols both agreed that this was probably an isolated incident that Dan had rationalized in his mind. They could have also kept him onboard. He was a valuable asset, and had been with the company a long time; however, both men agreed that this would have sent the wrong message to Dan and to other employees. Plus, they weren't certain they could trust Dan and their continued growth depended on having trustworthy employees on hand. In the end, they did what was best for the organization.

References

Biddick, K. (6 Sept. 2004). Think big when protecting small business from employee theft. Nation's Restaurant News, 38(36). Retrieved March 13, 2005, from InfoTrac OneFile database.

Case Study: An Employee Has Been Caught Stealing