What Employees Need to Know About Being Investigated By Their Employer

Jan 29 2025

Amanda DeMatteis: Hi, Josh.

Josh Goodbaum: Hi, Amanda. What are we talking about today?

DeMatteis: I thought we would talk about workplace investigations. These can be really stressful for employees who get called into a meeting with HR or their boss and told, “Hey, we’re doing an investigation into something about you.” Regardless of what the subject is, that’s not a very comfortable situation. What can you tell employees about what they should or could expect if they’re being investigated by their employer?

Goodbaum: I agree, Amanda. This is very stressful. It can come as a surprise to many people, and perhaps the biggest mistake you can make is thinking, “I didn’t do anything wrong, so I’m just gonna go into this investigation; I’m gonna answer all their questions; I’m not gonna think about it or prepare at all, and the chips will fall where they may.” I think that’s the wrong approach.

The right approach is to ask yourself: What might I be accused of? What are the support structures that can help me?

So, let’s start with support structures. If you’re a member of a union, you want to bring a union steward with you. Alert your union that you’re being investigated by your employer. If you’re not a member of a union, ask if your employer will allow you to bring a support person. Many employers will allow you to bring a support person.

Now, some employees will ask, “I don’t even know why I’m being investigated. Do I have a right to know?” And unfortunately, I think the answer is that, no, you generally do not have a legal right to know why you’re being investigated by your employer. But nonetheless, it might be helpful for you to think through your situation before you submit yourself to an interview.

That might include talking with a lawyer first. It’s not necessarily required, but I don’t think it can hurt. That lawyer would ordinarily be an employment lawyer, and you and that lawyer might be able to talk through some of the situations that often give rise to an investigation. Think about: Are you the subject of a harassment complaint? Are you the subject of a discrimination complaint? Are you accused of stealing time? Or forging expense reports? Or stealing confidential company documents?

If you think you’re being accused of doing something criminal – or if you think you have done something criminal, either intentionally or inadvertently – you absolutely need to speak with a lawyer before you submit yourself to an interview with anyone, including your employer. Because the worst thing that can happen if you don’t submit to an interview by your employer is you lose your job. The worst thing that happens if you give answers that incriminate you is obviously something much worse.

So, that leads to a question a lot of people ask us, which is, “Do I have to participate in an investigatory interview with my employer? Don’t I have a right just to remain silent?” Well, yes and no. You can choose not to participate. But unfortunately, if you choose not to participate, you could find yourself suspended, disciplined, or worse, potentially even terminated. Your employer has a right to demand that you provide information that you know in response to their reasonable questions. Now, termination might be a cost that you’re willing to bear because providing the information that your employer wants would be worse for you than losing your job, but it’s certainly something you need to consider.

All in all, you can see that employer investigations can be really stressful. There are a lot of considerations. And so I recommend, if you get an invitation from HR that says, “Hey, we want to interview you in 10 minutes about an investigation that we’re doing,” you should probably ask them if you can have a little bit more time. That might be the time to leave work for the day so you have time to process what’s happening. It might be the time to take a little bit of space. It might be the time to call your spouse. Call a friend. Think about calling a lawyer.

DeMatteis: Really helpful for people that end up in a tough situation. So, thanks for all of that, Josh, and thank you for watching. Take care.

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amanda dematteis discussing being investigated by your employer at work

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Garrison, Levin-Epstein, Fitzgerald & Pirrotti, P.C.

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