Terminating the Employment Relationship

The individual conducting the Skelly conference is mainly there to listen (and take notes) to the employee’s side of the story and consider the information presented. The Skelly officer may also want to clarify any confusing issues, or ask relevant questions of the employee which may go to the intent or bases for the proposed discipline. The Skelly officer should not allow himself/herself to be cross-examined by the employee or the employee’s representative. S/he does not need to justify his/her actions at the Skelly meeting/conference. The Skell y officer should end the meeting/conference if the employee does not want to tell his/her side of the story, but instead only wants to use the time to interrogate the Skelly officer.

Ideally, the Skelly officer should be “reasonably impartial,” and not involved in the underlying action. But Courts have found that it is not a violation of due process for a manager who conducted an underlying investigation to serve as the Skelly officer. 20 The Skelly officer should:  Consider making a record of the Skelly meeting/conference by audio taping it;  If the employee does not reveal the information on his/her own, consider asking questions to ascertain: (1) whether the employee denies the commission of any of the alleged conduct; and (2) the full range of defenses that the employee may be claiming, including the existence of past practices adverse to management, claims of disparate treatment, and (particularly if the employee is represented by counsel) any legal impediments to the imposition of discipline; and  Get the names and contact information of all witnesses who would corroborate the employee’s position.

LCW Practice Advisor

d. Final Notice of Termination After conducting the Skelly conference, the Skelly officer must decide whether the decision to terminate should be sustained, modified or rejected. If the decision is to uphold termination or modify the decision in such a manner that significant punitive action will be imposed (e.g., reducing a termination to a demotion), the employer must provide the employee with written notice describing the disciplinary action that will be imposed. This notice is commonly referred to as the “Final Notice of Termination.”

Terminating the Employment Relationship ©2019 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 21