When drawing up your preliminary note of what you need to know as the product of your investigation, remember that the people being investigated have rights too. Some we will come to later in this series, including confidentiality and a fair process, but the first and most fundamental part of a fair “trial” is knowing what you are accused of. Of course, the investigation is not a trial as such, but since it may lead on to relatively public steps such as suspension or disciplinary procedures, that right should be treated as engaged from the start.
This does not mean just understanding the allegations in generic terms – harassment, bullying, failure to comply with a legal obligation, but very specifically. That means the detail that you would want to know if it were you under the microscope, granular enough to give you a reasonable opportunity to admit, deny or explain specific instances. The sort of detail which allows you a reasonable chance to recall particular incidents or to justify or mitigate particular words or decisions by reference to other circumstances at the time. The sort of detail you would be entitled to if the position had gone beyond investigation and was now a full-blown disciplinary.
Therefore the investigator must start by considering whether he/she already has that level of detail in the allegations raised or the complaint made, and if not, by then seeking them from the person whose disclosure led to the investigation. Bullying and harassment and...
The Department of Health and Human Services capped off a week of intensive anti-fraud activity with the launching of a six-month healthcare False Claims Act self-disclosure pilot program in partne...