Termination report on file

[LorenSterling]

What is the name of your state? North Carolina
The Food/Beverage department manager at my company put the following notation on a termination report to go into a personnel file:
"Decided not to take position. Has some vision problems to work out and may be a bit on the paranoid side." The General Manager thought we shouldn't put that in the individual's file because she is concerned it could be considered slanderous and/or implies a medical diagnosis. The GM said since the person quit we shouldn't put anything else in the file. I supported the FB manager's position because:
A) This person quit before he started working so we aren't likely to get an employment verification on him.
B) If we do get an inquiry, we generally do not read them the notes on the term report; they usually only get dates of employment and whether the individual is eligible for rehire.
C) The FB manager should be allowed to make a notation for her own future decision on whether or not to hire, if she felt the person might be a problem.
D) I don't believe the FB Mgr's observation that the person might be paranoid is a medical diagnosis. Schizophrenic I would worry about but not paranoid.
Any comments? Should I ask her to rewrite the term report?

 

[Beth3]

Those are foolish comments to put in the individual's file and yes, paranoia is a medical diagnosis. The FB Manager is also speculating about something that potentially has ADA implications (the vision problems.)

Since this individual voluntarily declined the job, I don't think this is going to lead to any problems for your company but as a general rule, putting speculative information like that in a candidate's or employee's file (as opposed to observed behavior) is not smart. I suggest you limit the comments to the fact that the individual declined the position and whatever specific reasons the individual provided himself - not what your FB Manager is speculating about.

 

[LorenSterling]

Beth, you said:
"The FB Manager is also speculating about something that potentially has ADA implications (the vision problems.)"

The FB Manager wasn't speculating about the vision problems. That was the reason the employee gave for declining the job. The FB manager was a little freaked out by the individual's behavior when he called to decline. She understandably wants to make some kind of notation in case the same person applies again next year (we hire hundreds of people for a short time anually) to remind her that he had issues. Perhaps a more delicate wording? Is there no legally safe way to indicate that this person is really freakin' spooky? The FB Manager said he seemed normal during the initial interview, so might inadvertently be hired later. I do appreciate your input.

 

[Beth3]

If the individual declined the job citing vision problems, then you're free to document that. (I thought the FB Manager was making an assumption.) As to the individual's behavior when he called to decline, it's a better idea to document the behavior and what was said rather than to speculate on the cause. Even just "John made some peculiar and disjointed comments when he phoned to decline the job; I would recommend that he not be considered for employment again in the future" is far better than speculating whether the person has a mental health problem.

 

[LorenSterling]

Thanks! You have been very helpful.