Accused of Forging Email

My question involves labor and employment law for the state of:

Hi there, I've worked for my company since 2001 and have had a spotless record the entire time as an IT Professional. I'm considered well-liked, respected, and hold my integrity above all things. This past Friday, June 11, 2012, I was on a paid vacation day and my supervisor called me. She left a message as I had missed the call. I called her back within minutes, and she proceeded to tell me that I was not to utilize my work laptop over the weekend (not even to power it on because "that would look very bad for you"), that I was not to set foot on the work campus unless as a customer, and that I'd be meeting with a computer forensics investigator and HR at 8:00a on Monday, June 11, 2012 (today). I'd asked her what was going on and she told me that, "All will be clear on Monday." I then mentioned that I couldn't imagine why I'd be involved in a meeting such as this. I'm an employee who give 200% of myself to the organization, often working very late into the evening and at home on projects. My supervisor then said, "People who do bad things have bad things happen to them. If you've not done anything, you have nothing to worry about, right?"

The meeting was completed this morning and in it I was accused of forging an e-mail. The HR individual stated that there was a 29-page forensics report that proved, blow by blow, everything that I did in creating this "forged" communication. I was shown the "original" message that was allegedly copied, then altered to form the new, "forged" message. This message was from April 25, 2012. It also was not a message containing any controversial material, nor did it create a negative impact on anyone aside from them saying they had not originally received it. In fact, I'd discovered on May 3, 2012, that the intended recipient had stated he didn't receive it, so I forwarded the message from my Sent folder.

Presented with the few pieces of paper I was allowed to look at, it looked as though the report might be correct, yet I know that I wrote that e-mail at the date and time indicated and did not do anything to tamper with it. The content was so unimportant, I can't even wrap my head around why someone would think that message important enough to warrant such action. I've never done anything unscrupulous such as modify a message, but was made to feel as though the evidence was impervious to argument, and that I had to confess to doing something I did not do if I wanted to keep my job. So I indicated that it would have been possible for me to have done what I was accused of. The investigator told me that she was taken aback by the fact that I was "so calm" during the interview. I'd been calm because I'd known that I'd done nothing wrong, but she called me a "liar" and said that I had broken a cardinal value of trust for someone in my field.

The bottom line is that my employer believes without a doubt that I am guilty of this offense and I don't know what to do. The forensics report looks so genuine, I would have believed it had it not been about me. I'm scared because this is my livelihood, and I have nowhere to go. I'm currently on Administrative Leave with pay, and don't know whether that means I'm going to be terminated after a decision is reached or not.

My supervisor has been awful to me for nearly 4 years, threatening my job with underhanded comments ("Are you getting a tax return this year? If so, you'd be a fool to part with it." "If you repeat what I say, I will look you dead in the eye and deny it."), and I truly believe that she has had something to do with this. I'm currently the only one working on widespread projects for my place of work and, if I'm not present, it will be of serious detriment to the business. And I love the work I do. My job has been such a source of satisfaction for me over the years, aside from my awful supervisor.

My questions (sorry this is so very long): Was it ok for my supervisor to contact me with such information (sounding as though I'm being terminated) on my vacation day, given that I'm a salaried/exempt employee (no union, unfortunately)? And in your experience, since they truly believe I forged an email when I did not, and the forensics report seemingly supports that accusation, is there a chance that this will not lead to termination? Finally, I have 475.32 hours of vacation time in my vacation bank. If this is included in a lump-sum on a final paycheck, will taxes take a huge toll? If I'm terminated, I'll need every penny I can get, so what could I do to ensure that taxes don't decimate my last income?

I thank you, in advance, for your time and quick responses! I'd been told that a determination will be made within 1-3 business days, so my stomach is in knots and I don't know what to do. :(

As you indicated you are not subject to a collective bargaining agreement, you can be terminated essentially at will. Dependent on your employers policy, you may lose all accrued vacation. Regardless, if they do pay it to you, it will be according to their terms and you won't be able to effect that. Indicating you could have done the act, likely gave the impression you did in fact do so.

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So I indicated that it would have been possible for me to have done what I was accused of.

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*headdesk*

Why would you do this? Never, never, never, EVER confess to something you did not do. Never, never, never, EVER allow as how it is "possible" if you didn't do it. You may have presented your head to the executioner here, no axe required.

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Was it ok for my supervisor to contact me with such information (sounding as though I'm being terminated) on my vacation day, given that I'm a salaried/exempt employee (no union, unfortunately)?

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There is no law forbidding your employer from calling you at 4AM if she wants to.

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Finally, I have 475.32 hours of vacation time in my vacation bank. If this is included in a lump-sum on a final paycheck, will taxes take a huge toll? If I'm terminated, I'll need every penny I can get, so what could I do to ensure that taxes don't decimate my last income?

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Taxes will be withheld at your regular rate.

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Quoting LawResearcherMissy

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*headdesk*

Why would you do this? Never, never, never, EVER confess to something you did not do. Never, never, never, EVER allow as how it is "possible" if you didn't do it. You may have presented your head to the executioner here, no axe required.



There is no law forbidding your employer from calling you at 4AM if she wants to.



Taxes will be withheld at your regular rate.

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Hi there, and thank you for the response. I'm sorry that I was not clear as to what I meant by by my indicating that it would have been possible for me to have done what I was accused of. I did NOT say that I had done anything wrong. What I said was that I'd have the ability to do something like what I was accused of. Meaning...I said that I could forge an e-mail if I wanted to, I suppose, but why would I? So I did not confess guilt to something I did not do.

As far as my employer contacting me, it is against policy for them to contact me on my approved vacation days to offer me information that is emotionally damaging and/or harrassing in nature to me. I'm not sure if this is true for other workplaces, but on your own personal time, you are under no obligation to call back work. My supervisor left me a message, stating that it was "urgent" that she speak to me prior to Monday. Being a diligent employee, I took the time to call her back, where she basically read me my rights.

When you say that my taxes will be withheld at my regular rate, do you mean that my lump sum of final pay and vacation payout will not be mauled as would a bonus check? People keep telling me that the check, which would be worth about $20,500.00 in one go. I need as much of that as I can get to survive. This is roughly eight pay-periods (pay-periods are every two weeks) of pay, but if taxes halve it, I'm going to have a very hard time surviving. I need it to work out to roughly those eight pay-periods.

Thank you, again, for your time! I'm very scared right now because I've done nothing, but they've made it look as if I have. And their saying that the forensics report is above reproach is so stressful because I know that I didn't do what I'm accused of, yet they seemingly have proof.

Your boss called and left you a message on your vacation saying she needed to talk to you when you got back and then you called her on your vacation. She didn't violate anything.

If you get a paycheck that includes vacation pay then you will pay the same taxes on that paycheck that you would for any others.

it is against policy for them to contact me on my approved vacation days to offer me information that is emotionally damaging and/or harrassing in nature to me.

It may be against policy. It is not illegal. Nor does anything you have described meet the definition of illegal harassment.

I have written hundreds of company policies, and have read thousands of company policies, and never in my almost-30 years of doing this have I ever seen a company policy that specifically prohibited its employees from contacting other employees during their vacation time to convey harassing and/or emotionally damaging information.

This is utterly bizarre. I cannot think of a single legal or business reason for having a policy that says this. Also, does this mean that employees may convey harassing and/or emotionally damaging information to each other at any time as long as it's not vacation time?

How weird.

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What I said was that I'd have the ability to do something like what I was accused of.

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Which you should never, never, never, EVER do. Which do you think would be the better response from you: "What, are you kidding? I've barely figured out how to sort into folders, I have no idea how to forge an email!" or "Sure, I suppose I could have..."?

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As far as my employer contacting me, it is against policy for them to contact me on my approved vacation days to offer me information that is emotionally damaging and/or harrassing in nature to me.

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Company policy is not law, it's company policy. As I said, there's no law prohibiting her from calling you whenever she wants.

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When you say that my taxes will be withheld at my regular rate, do you mean that my lump sum of final pay and vacation payout will not be mauled as would a bonus check?

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Correct. Vacation time is not a bonus, even if you get it all at once. It's treated as earned income.

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Quoting LawResearcherMissy

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Which you should never, never, never, EVER do. Which do you think would be the better response from you: "What, are you kidding? I've barely figured out how to sort into folders, I have no idea how to forge an email!" or "Sure, I suppose I could have..."?



Company policy is not law, it's company policy. As I said, there's no law prohibiting her from calling you whenever she wants.



Correct. Vacation time is not a bonus, even if you get it all at once. It's treated as earned income.

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Thank you for the responses. I'm an IT Programmer, and build complicated systems. To tell them that I'd not be able to do what was in question would have been lying. They were very upset with me because I didn't admit to doing anything for 40 minutes. I even was called out for being calm the entire time. Bottom line, I guess, is that if an employer wants you gone, they'll do whatever they want. A 29-page forensics report that shows blow-by-blow of "what I did" means nothing to me because I didn't do it, but I don't know how to fight it. I received a call from someone today at work asking me why my voicemail says I'm out indefinitely. This is all so upsetting after 10+ years of giving nothing but my all to this place.

Let me ask you a question, and I have reason for asking it. If you were to guess why the employer "wants you gone", what would your guess be?

I'm going somewhere specific with this.