Case Name :      Maria Gonzalez

Authors :           Karen E. Boroff

Source :             North American Case Research Association (NACRA)

Case ID :            NA0276

Discipline :        Human Resource Management

Case Length :    14 pages

Solution sample availability : YES

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

Maria Gonzalez, a unionized employee of Global Communications, was arrested in an off-duty incident involving drugs, guns, and possible pornography. The news account published the names of those arrested, including Maria, but listed her name as Yvonne Gonzalez. Maria, as she was known in the office, was a customer service representative (CSR) at Global. She had access to private information about Global’s customers and was the point of contact for them. Gonzalez reported out sick following the arrest and her immediate boss, unaware of the drug bust and Gonzalez’s associated arrest, simply thought this was a typical sick-day call-out. Subsequently and quite by accident, Gonzalez’s managers learned that her absences were directly related to events at the drug bust. In turn, when she wanted to report back to work, the managers became concerned about what the appropriate course of action should be regarding Gonzalez’s behavior. They were troubled by the potential customer and employee impact, as well as negative publicity that could tarnish Global’s overall reputation.