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Advanced Disciplinary Issues: Credibility Determinations May 3, 2023

Credibility determinations are a necessary part of most workplace investigations. When facts are in dispute, the failure to document why one witness is believed over another can compromise the objectivity & fairness of the process, opening the door to unnecessary appeals & litigation, not to mention flawed outcomes.

Evaluating truthfulness is part-science and part-art. This program explains the process for conducting credibility determinations as part of internal disciplinary investigations. Learn what is required so that arbitrators, civil service commissions, the EEOC, & courts will affirm rather than reverse disciplinary decision making.

How do we assess the credibility of witnesses? Whether we admit it or not, we constantly make credibility determinations. We typically make them subconsciously, in a manner that leaves us unable to explain why we believe one person & not another. Couple subconscious determinations with a negative impact to a firefighter (be it not investigating a firefighter’s claim of harassment, or punishing a firefighter based upon conflicting accounts by witnesses), & it can appear we made a bad decision.

Credibility determination factors have been developed & approved by courts. They offer objective, legally defensible criteria that can be relied upon when making difficult workplace decisions.

Instructor: Curt Varone, JD, EFO has 45+ yrs in the fire service & 35+ yrs as a practicing attorney licensed in RI & ME. He is a retired deputy chief from Providence RI, a Contributing Editor for Firehouse Magazine, & operates Fire Law Blog. He remains active as a deputy chief in Exeter RI.

Time: 1:00pm-4:30PM Eastern
Cost: $150 per person
For group discounts or if you can't use Paypal, email CurtVarone@gmail.com

Cancellation/Refund Policy: http://www.firelawblog.com/online-training/

May 3, 2023 01:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)