50 Case Studies for Management and Supervisory Training

50 Case Studies for Management and Supervisory Training

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Case 7 (continued)

Case Discussion:

Mary Corey

Summary

Helen Rowe supervised the Customer Support Department for Statewide Services Corporation.

Over the past six months, one of Helen’s top performers, Mary Corey, had fallen into a situation

of poor performance. In looking through her personnel folder, Helen reconstructed the history of

Mary’s decline, which follows.

About six months ago, at Christmastime. Mary began taking longer lunch breaks. When

Helen made some comments, Mary was uncharacteristically defensive. Helen noticed that Mary

fell asleep at her desk on two occasions. Then, beginning in January, Mary occasionally came

into work 10 to 20 minutes late or did not come in at all because she was sick. During this period,

Mary was increasingly short-tempered with her coworkers. Her coworkers thought that Mary, a

single mother of two teenage girls, might be having some problems at home.

In late February, Mary did not return from lunch one day. She called three hours later, claim-

ing to have become ill. Her voice sounded slurred. She returned two days later with a doctor’s

note explaining she had a stomach flu. After repeated lateness, Helen issued Mary a formal disci-

plinary notice, and her attendance improved.

By April, Mary was slipping back to lateness and irritability. But now Mary also seemed to

have problems completing her work after returning from lunch. In early May, Helen issued a sec-

ond notice, indicating that this time Mary’s job was on the line. Mary’s performance improved

again. However, she was given a less than satisfactory evaluation on her performance evaluation

shortly thereafter.

Last week, after returning to work 45 minutes late and smelling strongly of peppermint, she

created quite a commotion while trying to settle into her work. Helen confronted Mary, at which

point Mary burst into tears and ran from the office. The next day, one of Mary’s children called,

saying Mary was sick.

When Mary returned to work today, she asked for a transfer to an area with less pressure.

Helen, concerned about the impact Mary was having on the Customer Support Department,

wanted to fire her. The company did have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

Answers to Case Questions

1. Can Helen terminate Mary without running into legal problems?

Mary has been demonstrating behaviors that point to alcohol and/or drug abuse. One drawbac

k

for Helen is that she does not know whether it is alcohol, drugs, or a combination of both tha

t

is at the root of Mary’s problem. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, current illegal

drug use is not protected. Thus, if Mary’s pro

b

lem is due exclusively to illegal drug use, Mary

would have no protections under the law and could be terminated with minimal concern.

Alcohol abuse, on the other hand, is protected under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973: employ-

ees with an alcohol abuse problem cannot be discriminated against in employment based on

this disability as long as they can perform their job duties safely and effectively. Employees

with this condition, though, can be held to the same standards of performance as othe

r

employees.