Anchorman Rob Morrison recently resigned from his job with CBS after his arrest for allegedly choking his wife.
But was Morrison legally required to quit? What does the law say about the security of your job once you've been arrested?
Lori Adelson, a labor and employment attorney and partner with law firm Arnstein & Lehr, tells us that when an employee gets arrested, the employer has to balance the rights of the worker with the impact the arrest has on the office and other employees.
If the situation might potentially create a safety issue, it's the "employer's obligation" to deal with it. In Morrison's case, it was a "wise idea" that he resigned, Adelson says, because even though CBS isn't legally bound to fire him, there's a good chance they would have terminated him.
It all comes down to whether the company is able to continue "functioning and operating as a business" after the arrest. With all the media attention that Morrison's case is getting and his wife, Ashley, working in the same building, CBS would have a legitimate reason to believe that the arrest would be disruptive.
To prevent a messy situation, companies should have policies in place to cover this type of thing in case it does occur. Employers can also choose to place the arrested employee on pending status, which means they would be able to come back to work upon acquittal. On the other hand, if there is a clear and justifiable reason to terminate the employee permanently, that policy should also be clearly in place.
In short, the "innocent until proven guilty" right isn't always applicable in the workplace.
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