Question

Explain an appropriate response by the public employer to the following situation.

Case Study 3: Ron B has been a police officer for ten years. Recently, the department has been receiving complaints that Officer B is discourteous with members of the public. A review of Officer B’s personnel file reveals that he has received five citizen complaints for making uncalled for remarks, rudeness, and other inappropriate statements to members of the public within six months. There were no prior complaints. It was easy to correlate the beginning of the rude behavior to the time that Officer B requested a family medical leave to resolve family issues. His request was denied because it did not comply with the guidelines of FMLA. Is Officer B disabled?

Answer 1

No. The behaviour exhibited by the officer does not correspond to disability. It can be related to some serious personal problems related to the family which has put him in stress. The frustration of not being able to find time for resolving the issues has caused him to behave in unruly way. Now, since he is not eligible for FMLA, the best the company can do, is to help him through counselling and psychological help to deal with the stressful situation and try to make his work schedule flexible enough to devote more time to the family to the best possible level. This is a temporary phase of anxiety, stress and emotional trauma which can be resolved with dye efforts from employer and employee himself.