In our prior blog post, “Build Bridges, Not Barriers,” we discussed how to make the most of an interviewee’s representative during an interview and ways to head off any potential friction in advance. This blog post discusses some suggestions and options investigators have when a representative’s conduct crosses the line into disruptive behavior. While the vast majority of representatives do not cross this line, these tips will help you if you ever encounter the rare exception.

VM Recommends is a monthly feature where members of our Team give suggestions on podcasts, television, movies and books for you to spend time with.

This month’s VM Recommends brings us selections from Partner, Erich Knorr, who leads the Tempe, Arizona office.

I (female, 25) joined Glowing Cosmetics one year ago as a Merchandise Intern. After receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, a position at Glowing Cosmetics was a great opportunity for a recent grad. The stars aligned when Glowing came to my university’s career fair. The company had an opening for their Diversity Internship, and as a female, Mexican immigrant, I decided to apply. After a rigorous application process, I got the job! I really fought for this position, and I’m proud to have earned it.

Investigations of police or firefighter misconduct in California are governed by two key statutes: the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act (POBR) and the Firefighters Procedural Bill of Rights Act (FBOR). These statutes establish protections for peace officers and firefighters subject to such investigations.

Whenever an employer is on notice of an employee concern that warrants an investigation, the next decision, invariably, is whether to perform the investigation in house or hire an outside investigator. In most situations, it is prudent, and even preferred, to use a qualified internal investigator.

VM Recommends is a monthly feature where members of our Team give suggestions on podcasts, television, movies and books for you to spend time with.

This month’s VM Recommends brings us selections from our San Diego Editor and Paralegal, Antonia Gordon.

I am 65-year-old female and have worked at Bob’s Grocer for almost 20 years. I love my job and all of my coworkers. Bob is the best, but recently, he hired this new manager. I cannot stand this new guy, R. He is such a pompous jerk.

The laws applicable to the operations of public agencies create opportunities to gather evidence and information that are unique to the public sector. These opportunities can help expedite and focus investigations by narrowing the scope of interview questioning, assisting with establishing timelines, and minimizing the delays associated with document requests or personnel file review.

The Morning Show is a ripped-from-the-headlines drama series about Mitch Kessler, a beloved TV anchor, who is fired for sexual misconduct during the MeToo movement. He’s basically Matt Lauer. As a workplace investigator, I was all in. How would the show portray our line of work? Inaccurately, it turns out!

Investigations should be conducted in a thorough, timely, and impartial manner. But what happens when an investigation is not conducted to these standards? As investigators, we frequently learn from the mistakes of other. The investigative news organization Mother Jones recently published an article on an investigation that had several serious missteps; ‘Independent’ Investigations Into Sexual Abuse Are Big Business. Can Survivors Really Trust Them?”

VM Recommends is a monthly feature where members of our Team give suggestions on podcasts, television, movies and books for you to spend time with.

This month’s VM Recommends brings us selections from our Bay Area Managing Partner, Nikki Hall.

I (female, she/her pronouns) started working at Resty Restaurant about three years ago.  I started serving when I was 16 years old, and I’m 26 now.  At the time, Resty’s felt like a good fit for me.  As a mom and a wife, I could only work weekday evenings and weekends when my husband could take care of the kids.  Resty’s agreed to accommodate my schedule when I was hired.  For the past three years, Resty’s has been a great gig for me.  I work hard, and I was quickly promoted to shift lead.  I really liked the staff, too. 

When public employees are facing serious discipline, they are generally entitled to a pre-disciplinary process known as a Skelly Hearing or simply, “Skelly,” during which the employee is permitted to respond to the proposed action.[1]  The Skelly is typically brief and does not include the robust components of a post-disciplinary appeal. Nonetheless, the Skelly provides an important opportunity for the employer to hear the employee’s perspective on the proposed discipline before imposing it. 

In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded protections for whistleblowers under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”).  In February 2024, the Court decided Murray v. UBS Securities, LLC.  It held that a whistleblower does not need to prove that their employer acted with “retaliatory intent” in taking an adverse action against the employee.   

VM Recommends is a monthly feature where members of our Team give suggestions on podcasts, television, movies and books for you to spend time with.

This month hear from our Sacramento Business Operations Analyst, Emma Newton.

VM Recommends is a monthly feature where members of our Team give suggestions on podcasts, television, movies and books for you to spend time with.

This month hear from our Los Angeles Managing Partner, Daphne Pierre Bishop.

To admonish or not to admonish? That is the question - again.

At VM, we know workplace investigations. It’s what we do, every day. But we are always retained as external attorney investigators. Conducting an independent investigation as an external attorney investigator can be quite different from conducting an investigation as an internal human resources or compliance professional.

VM Recommends is a monthly feature where our Team members give suggestions on the best podcasts, television shows, movies and books they've discovered recently.

For August, see what our 2023 Law Clerk Olivia Totten is recommending.

Consider this. It is an ordinary Monday. You receive notice of a complaint of sexual harassment. Maybe it is by or against a valuable, high-performing executive. Maybe it is by or against a one-month employee you are just getting to know. Either way, yours is a fascinating and challenging job. Your policy says the complaint must be investigated. But by who? Should you direct this investigation to an in-house investigator, or go to a third-party investigator?