Facing a Show Cause Notice: Can My Company Suspend Me for Taking Legal Action?

I was issued a show cause notice from HR. The charges framed were based on my supervisor's complaint and on the basis of a preliminary committee report. I was not aware that there was any preliminary committee or that an investigation was ongoing against me until I received the show cause notice from HR. Upon reviewing the committee report, I discovered that it was intentionally biased and one-sided, favoring the complainant. I have evidence to support that the committee did not present facts but rather wrote what they believed would justify penalizing me without any evidence.

Although I have responded to the show cause notice, it has been almost a month, and the management has not provided any feedback. I am experiencing mental harassment. If I decide to file a case against the organization for defaming my image and causing mental harassment, do they have the right to suspend or terminate me for taking legal action against them? Please advise.

Dear member, you were given a show-cause notice, for which you have provided a reply. In light of this situation, it is advisable to wait and observe the decision of the top management. Who knows, it may also work out in your favor! Yes, these are challenging times for you, and waiting for the verdict can be painful, but I recommend that you exercise patience.

Preliminary Committee Investigation

You mentioned that upon receiving a complaint from your superior, a "Preliminary Committee" investigated the matter. However, you were not called to testify before the committee. In that scenario, the committee's report is invalidated.

Advice on Legal Action

Despite the malfunctioning of the preliminary committee, I advise against filing a lawsuit against your PSU. From a long-term career perspective, it is better to reconcile and move forward. However, if the top management imposes a penalty on you, then you can contest the punishment in the court that handles cases of PSU employees.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Thank you, sir, for your suggestion. I have received information from my friends that the management is considering suspending me, claiming that my response is unacceptable, and conducting a disciplinary inquiry. I am concerned that if I am suspended, I will not receive any pay as per the employee manual, leading to significant financial difficulties. I have personal loans, a housing loan, rent, school fees for my children, medical expenses for my elderly parents, and other household costs to manage. This situation would put me in deep trouble.

Some of my friends have advised me to lodge a complaint in court seeking justice. They believe that the court may stay the suspension orders until a proper inquiry is conducted. Sir, what do you recommend in this case? What steps should I take?

Reliability of Grapevine News

How reliable is this grapevine news? You have many commitments and cannot afford to make hasty decisions. If, as you say, you are not guilty, then stop worrying. You cannot be punished unless the PSU gives you a chance to place your statement and documents on record.

Considerations Before Legal Action

A court case at this stage is hasty, and the courts may not provide you with relief by quashing proceedings, etc. Please think over this calmly and consult a lawyer for practical and detailed advice.

Supreme Court Notice and Response

What were the specific points of the Supreme Court notice, and what was your reply?

Understanding Preliminary Inquiry

The poster should first understand that a preliminary inquiry or discreet inquiry is an investigation conducted without the employee's knowledge when a complaint is received against them. This is done to ascertain the prima facie validity of the complaint. Therefore, there is no necessity to involve or inform the employee while such a discreet inquiry is conducted.

If the discreet inquiry indicates the prima facie of the complaint, then a show-cause notice is issued by the Disciplinary Authority, framing the charges of misconduct under the applicable Standing Orders or Service Regulations. If the reply submitted by the accused is not acceptable, a domestic or departmental inquiry is ordered and conducted into the charges, providing all opportunities for the accused to defend themselves.

Responding to Delays in Management's Response

Just because there is no response from the management even after one month, the employee cannot cast any aspersions as described in the original post. When the employee is not placed under suspension pending inquiry, they cannot complain about the delay. Even if suspended, the management must pay subsistence allowance as per rules until the suspension is revoked; they cannot keep an employee under suspension indefinitely. Also, it is not necessary for every charge-sheeted employee facing a domestic inquiry to be placed under suspension. Therefore, there should be no qualms or unnecessary worries about it. Mental agony due to imagination cannot be a valid reason to sue the management when they initiate disciplinary action under the contract of employment. It is the duty of the poster to participate in the inquiry and prove their innocence when it is conducted.

Dear colleague, you are at a stage where there is no cause for any action against the company yet. You have replied to the SC, and one month has passed with no action taken by the company. Your grapevine tells you that you might be suspended. Remember, to suspend any employee pending domestic inquiry for 'serious' charges is a right of the employer under Standing Orders/Service rules. At the same time, the employer is under an obligation to pay subsistence allowance during such suspension, as rightly pointed out. Show patience and wait for management's action.

You are required to be served with the charge sheet following an order of suspension pending the inquiry. If the charges contained are not grave and serious, and yet you are suspended pending inquiry, you can challenge the suspension as unjustified and illegal and demand the same to be revoked. Generally, suspension is imposed when there is a fear that the chargesheeted employee may tamper with management's evidence or threaten/influence management's witnesses. However, you have stated that you are being framed under fabricated charges and have strong evidence to prove it. In that case, why should you fear the domestic inquiry? Though uncomfortable, go through it and prove your innocence. All of the above is to be considered as a consequence of management's further action; for now, no action except to wait and watch is called for.

Regards, Vinayak Nagarkar HR Consultant

Dear All, thank you so much for your advice and detailed information. I know that I have not done anything wrong, so I will wait for the management to respond. However, since my supervisor and the country director are from senior management and are good friends, they are acting very smartly. They are asking people for resignations who are my prime witnesses and could speak the truth if I ask them to do so. Now, the fear that is coming to my mind is that since those people are leaving or have already left the organization, how will they help me in front of management? The management might not call them or hear their voice on my matter.

Although I am coming to the office regularly, I am not doing any work. My tasks have been allocated to other persons in my department and other departments by my supervisor. The management/HR has not given me any notice or email about reallocating my work to others until the matter is resolved. All of this is happening in front of me, and no one from my department or other staff in the office is talking to me or discussing anything. Only a few individuals who really know me talk, but in a limited way. Staff are afraid that they might lose their jobs if they are seen talking or discussing with me.

Sir, I am looking for some guidance in this regard. What should be my steps or precautions that will help me further?

As it has been advised by Mr. Divekar, show patience. Discreet inquiry has no legal standing. Yes, the management can issue a show cause notice even without an inquiry as this does not amount to any punishment. Even suspension, if it comes to that, is not a punishment. Though the suspended employee does undergo mental harassment as well as financial hardship. Wait for the response to your reply. Hope you took assistance from someone in framing the reply. All the best.

Col. Suresh Rathi

Establishment of Prima Facie

Mr. Umakantham M has given you the most relevant and accurate advice in this matter. The establishment of the Prima Facie is the independent prerogative of the organization, whether by a committee formed for this purpose or by a higher functionary in your chain of reporting.

Issuance of the Show Cause Notice

After this stage is the issuance of the Show Cause Notice (SC), wherein the gist of accusations against you will, in time, form the charges in the formal charge sheet. These will also be the terms of reference for the Oral/Domestic/Departmental inquiry (all different names for the same process).

Please remember, the power to suspend an employee is vested with the management and cannot be challenged through any court, etc. Your best option here is through a union or works committee member if someone close to you is influential with the management. The organization (PSU) is only obliged to provide a subsistence allowance and curtail your balance of emoluments; they are immune and indifferent to your personal financial obligations.

Oral Inquiry and Penalties

Also, remember that convening an Oral inquiry is a must if the disciplinary authority believes (based on the strength of prima facie) that the Oral inquiry will provide enough basis for charges resulting in major penalties. However, in the case of minor penalties, an oral inquiry is often not conducted.

Management's Intent and Evidence Gathering

Your last post, enumerating your social isolation and the allotment of your work role to someone else, indicates the firm resolve of the management to proceed against you with the intent to administer appropriate disciplinary action.

As far as evidence in your favor is concerned, the attendance of personnel (I assume they have moved to some other government organization) can be sought by you during the oral inquiry and must be arranged for you. Your best shot here is to gather documentary evidence from that period, which can prove your point and thus become an irrefutable defense.

Till then, all the best.

Disciplinary Proceedings and Allegations

In any disciplinary proceedings contemplated against an employee, outsiders can only indicate the legal procedures to be adopted by the Disciplinary Authority stage by stage and the possible precautions to be taken by the delinquent. We cannot provide a comprehensive remedy at this stage based on your allegations about the bias of your immediate superior towards you and his closeness with your country director. Though your allegations of unprecedented changes in work allocation and the artificial social boycott at the instance of the management may be true, the absence of reasons for the initial complaint and such subsequent allegations in your original and successive posts leads us to think that you are withholding some vital information known only to you for obvious reasons. If your exit is their primary concern, why should they pressure many others instead of asking you directly to resign under the pretext of the SCN?

The entire ordeal you are scared of is inevitable for anyone facing disciplinary action. If you are truly convinced that you have not done anything wrong and the entire charge is fabricated, you should have the moral courage to prove your innocence by all possible means. Otherwise, you should have the tactics or manipulative skills to outsmart your adversary.

Dear Sir, thank you for your suggestion. Now, after almost 3 months since my reply to the SCN, they are asking me to resign, and they will pay 3 months' salary in return. I mentioned that if they wanted me to resign, why did they frame charges against me? They could have simply asked me to leave well before considering issuing me a show cause notice. Now, many people know that I was involved in some financial fraud, and my image is at stake. I also stated that I am willing to resign, but they need to provide me with a letter withdrawing all the baseless allegations made against me. This way, I will have documents to prove my innocence. However, they are unwilling to provide the letter and are threatening to proceed with a disciplinary inquiry if I do not resign. I responded that I am okay with that as I am not afraid since I have not committed any wrongdoing. This discussion took place 15 days ago, and there has been no response from the management as of today. I am still waiting for their reply.

Thank you.

I think your fear of potential financial difficulties due to a sudden job loss, combined with the pride of maintaining honesty in your duties, is putting significant pressure on your mind and affecting your decision-making capacity. If the reasons and circumstances you have explained for your exit are true and correct, the only intelligent choice you should make is to ensure your exit is smooth and peaceful. What is the point of proving your honesty and commitment to an organization run by a group of mean and dishonest people? They would certainly stoop to any level to prove you wrong and make your exit ignominious. Of course, you can still fight and win in the end, but that would only be a pyrrhic victory. So, decide on your own. After all, employment is a means to an end, not an end in itself.