The best reminders often come from the most obvious situations.
In a case decided by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals on
October 13, the employer laid down a clear path to remind employers what not to do.
Allied Medical Transport, a provider of paratransit services to
residents of Broward County, Florida, became skeptical of whether
its drivers were submitting all of the daily fares. So, the company
decided to conduct an audit. The initial audit revealed that some
drivers had in fact not remitted all of their fares. Accordingly,
Allied required those drivers to repay the amounts identified as
discrepancies.
However, two drivers refused to repay the amounts. Those two
employees were dissatisfied with how Allied reacted to their
refusal and began cooperating with and supporting an (ultimately
successful) union organizing effort. Allied suspended and
eventually fired the two employees, ostensibly for failing to
provide credible explanations of why their reported
