Mend Your Diet

An employee has threatened to call the health department. Can I fire them?

One of my employees threatened to call the Health Department because she didn't like her office space. Her office is a converted janitor's closet that the janitor still uses to store a few chemicals (she works with preschool age children). She claims the chemicals are bad for the kids, and she might be right, but we don't have any other space for her. I am really scared that she might be right and an investigation could close down our facility. Can I just fire her in order to keep this quiet? Is that legal?

Public Comments

1. if you fire her, you may open yourself up to a lawsuit
2. I don't think you can fire a person over that. It sounds like she has reasonable cause, but if you have no other offices, thats out of your hands. Maybe you can comprimise with her somehow...ask her if theres anything you can do to make her feel more comfortable.
3. as i see it you have 3 options. do nothing and risk the health dept. having a surprise visit fire her and get in legal trouble move the chemicals. surely there is a safe place to store these besides where preschool children are! it only takes a few seconds for a child to get into something dangerous. if you don't move the chemicals, you will be held liable for any accidents. since you have been told about the situation, if you do nothing you could be in serious trouble.
4. I'm sure you can, but that's like putting a bandaid on a gash that needs stitches. Sooner or later the issue will arise again, and it's that you need to provide a human space that doesn't have poison in it. You can invest in a permanent solution so you don't get into an embarrasing time-waster. I think you want to keep employees that are responsible and that have the guts tell you things that you don't like to hear.
5. Listen, you don't want to fire her, at least not yet because she could sue you and get you in trouble with the health department. Here's what you do: First, find out if she has any family in town. This will come in handy later. Next, send some subtle messages about how you feel about this like slash her tires, threatening anonymous phones calls, etc. You need to find out if she has any pets, then arrange a mailing of a body part. (your choice, whatever speaks to you) Also, look into her private life for any good blackmail material. You want to hire some local street thug to do the blackmailing though. As a last resort, rat poison in the coffee would be good. Even better, use some chemicals from the janitors closet. Good luck, hope this helps.
6. Not a good idea. The federal Whistle Blowers Act protects employees who report employers for violations of the law and that. If she is placed in an environment that could be dangerous, you really run the risk of a lawsuit anyway if she develops any physical maladies from the work place not to mention OSHA. Perhaps she can share an office with someone or, if possible, a lot companies allow their employees to work at home. I cannot understand your logic in even considering firing an employee with a legitimate complaint. It's not her fault and you want to take her job from her? I don't mean to sound nasty, I'm simply stating something that you might want to consider. You fire her, what happens when the next one complains? Your company needs to accomodate the employee in this instance. Tina
7. Just store the chemicals somewhere else. Isn't that a simpler and fairer solution than firing the woman?
8. You should never fire someone if the justification if to keep things quiet. That is a roadmap to disaster. If you don't have a moral compass or an ethical standard to follow, consider this: Anything that your business does could be a story in the local news someday. Would you fire her if you knew the media were watching you? If you say no, it's because you don't want to be caught in that action, which means quite simply that you know it is the wrong move. Make some reasonable accommodation and move on.
9. When did firing anyone ever keep them quiet? I would suggest finding a safer place for this woman to work. It's probably not legal that you have anyone working at a desk in a janitor's closet! How horrible. I think I might have already quit and called the health department on you if I was her.
10. I've read some of your other postings and it sounds like you have an interest in other women. I recommend you proposition her. Who knows a few kick ass orgasms and she might forget all about the preschool freaks and let them do what they want with the chemicals. Have fun.
11. Are you serious? As a professional who teaches preschool students and other young learners, I am appalled that you would even consider allowing an employee to work with children in a room that contains chemicals. Your employee should not only call the Health Department, she could call whatever organization issues your license. Someone who would consider firing an employee showing concern for the welfare of children has no business working with preschoolers. You deserve to be reported!