What Is Appropriate Discipline?
Well, of course, it depends. The recent double tragedy in New York City involving first a mentally ill man who fell to his death after being stunned with a Taser and then the suicide of the police lieutenant who gave the order to use the Taser provides the opportunity to reflect on the discipline question.
This wasn’t your typical workplace situation. It involved a public incident that resulted in a citizen’s death, was captured on video, and then placed on YouTube. There was pressure on the police department to do something quickly. Don’t discipline quickly.
Unfortunately, it’s not unusual for public political pressure to result in quick discipline when a thorough investigation is what’s necessary, followed by careful consideration of the entire situation. A complicated incident is particularly unsuited for quick disciplinary action.
Yet very quickly, the police department announced that the use of the Taser violated a rule which stated “when possible the [Taser] should not be used . . . in situations where the subject may fall from an elevated surface.” The 21-year veteran lieutenant who gave the Taser order was placed on desk duty, relieved of his gun and badge, and accused of professional misconduct. Extremely remorseful already, the lieutenant couldn’t handle the resulting shame of his discipline and shot himself.
The mentally ill man was naked, had been shouting inside his third-floor apartment for some time, climbed out the window to the fire escape, tried unsuccessfully to enter a neighbor’s apartment, climbed down the fire escape to a roll-down security gate (about 10 feet from the sidewalk below), began jabbing an eight-foot-long light bulb at a police officer who was trying to go up the fire escape to subdue the man, and then fell head-first to the sidewalk when the Taser was used. An inflatable bag had been called for as the incident unfolded but hadn’t arrived. The police officers weren’t positioned to break the man’s fall.
The lieutenant had been awarded 20 medals during his lengthy career. He was described by colleagues as calm and mild-mannered, “not your typical police officer.” Things happened quickly in a public place. The lieutenant had to make a judgment about what to do. If you watch the video, it’s not clear — at least, not to me — that the deranged man would’ve necessarily fallen off the gate on which he was standing when the Taser was used.
When you discipline someone, you investigate until you have all the facts. You evaluate the incident’s context. You consider applicable policies. You review the record of the employee being investigated. If you’re investigating someone with a stellar career, you take special care to make sure you’ve got it right. Then you impose appropriate discipline.
Maybe the same discipline would’ve been imposed even if the police investigation had been more deliberate. A tough call was required either way. It should be remembered, however, that the purpose of discipline is to rectify a situation, not to compound a tragedy.
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About Chris Parker
Chris Parker's practice focuses on the representation and counseling of companies in matters pertaining to the workplace and the protection of their intellectual property and trade secrets. In addition to serving as an advocate for clients, Mr. Parker is also trained as a mediator and frequently serves as a third-party neutral.
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Jimmy Daniel provides counseling to businesses of all sizes related to the employment relationship. He assists in the drafting of employment agreements, policies, and handbooks, as well as provides guidance related to compliance with federal, state, and local legislation such as the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act.
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While serving in an Of Counsel relationship with the firm, Mr. Bridgesmith also serves as the Executive Director at the Institute for Conflict Resolution at Lipscomb University and as an officer and principal in Strategic Resolutions Group, LLC. In these roles, Mr. Bridgesmith brings over 30 years of legal experience in dispute resolution and innovative workplace strategies to clients, students and business entities alike.
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What drives someone to this? I think of Vincent Foster, who took his life in the Clinton years(he was Hilary’s mentor at the Rose Law Firm). I like to think that we all have codes that we live by, something to guide us in difficult times. The codes some people have—the lieutenant, Foster— are often rigid and inflexible, permitting no slack. “I will be honest; I will be strong; I will not let down others who place their trust in me.” When there is cognitive dissonace between the real world and the code,there is only one of two paths: bail on the code or bail on yourself.
Mike,
Always appreciate your comments. Codes do make us take actions that sometimes don’t make sense to anyone but us.
A more recent example is the finance guy in LA who, because of his own finacial crisis or the overall financial crisis, killed himself, his wife, his three children and his mother-in-law. In his suicide note, he said he had two choices: to kill himself or to kill himself and his family. He believed the second choice to be more honorable.