Business law: After working as the manager of Piedmont Commons branch of Washing
ID: 332363 • Letter: B
Question
Business law:
After working as the manager of Piedmont Commons branch of Washington Mutual Bank (Washington), Dave Cummings was transferred to another branch. The new manager of Piedmont discovered $58,000 was missing from cash dispenser machines to which Cummings had access. Bank investigators found security photos showing Cummings violating bank policy requiring two person to be present when cash was handled. Employees told them he had frequently violated the policy. The investigators asked him to take a polygraph test and he refused. Washington fired him telling him is was because he violated the policy. Cummings sued Washington alleging it had violated the EPPA. Had it? Why or why not?
Explanation / Answer
The federal Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 (EPPA) strictly prohibits private employers to require their employees to take the polygraph test (lie detector test). The EPPA does not apply to the public sector employers. The EPPA prohibits private sector employers from requiring employees to submit to the polygraph test except under four conditions-
Among the four exceptions, the last is one relates to the case study. The existence of the shortage of inventory alone is not sufficient for the employer to administer the polygraph test.
Decision- Since all the above clauses pertain to the EPPA act, the court dismissed Cummings’s EPPA claim. In other words, since the employer requested Cummings to subject to polygraph test in connection to an ongoing investigation of a particular incident in which the employer had reasonable suspicion and additional evidence that the employee is involved in the economic loss and injury to the employer, then the employer can require Cummings to take the polygraph test. Thus, Cummings’ appeal that Washington had violated the EPPA is not valid.
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