March 1999
The January column "A Purely Private Matter?" carried the story about a banker friend calling the county finance director to inform him "off-the-record" that one of his employees, Fred, had developed what appears to be a very cozy financial relationship with one of his neighbors. Indeed, the relationship was suspect because the neighbor, an elderly person, had written more than $500,000 in checks to Fred and his wife. Should the county finance director speak to Fred about this matter? Or, should he stay out of it?
Mark Monson (mdmonson@compuserve.com) advises Fred's boss to stay out of it!
"I think Fred's boss was WAY off base talking to Fred about the phone call from the banker. The fact that Fred is an exemplary employee should, at the least, give him the benefit of the doubt. There is absolutely no reason to think that there is any illegal activity certainly none that involves his work. The banker has every right to be concerned, but he has his own avenues of investigation. The suspicion on the part of the banker amounts to nothing more than anecdotal information. For all we know, Fred and his wife could have been investing the money on behalf of the old man in conjunction with other family members. The boss jumped to a conclusion based on nothing more than hearsay from someone who is only a social acquaintance. Unless the boss has some direct evidence of his own to indicate that what Fred and his wife are doing adversely impacts his job—and the fact that his performance is exemplary indicates that it isn't—Fred's boss should have stayed out of it."