One of the common reasons that employees are terminated is false accusations of some type of misconduct, including policy violation, insubordination and even violence at workplace. While sometimes those accusations have grounds and are well justified, often an employee is being accused of violent behavior by his co-workers or a supervisor who tries to "frame" him and have him fired for one reason or another.
As an employee, you should keep in ind that your employer has a duty to investigate thoroughly and promptly any allegations of violence and other kinds of unlawful harassment, even if the employer doesn't believe the allegations to have any merit. Therefore, the employer is likely to find itself in a conundrum: if the employer doesn't believe the alleged victim and doesn't discipline the alleged perpetrator of violence, the company risks being sued by the victim for harassment and/or failure to prevent violence. If, on the other hand, the company take victim's side and demote, transfer or terminate an employee because of violence, the employer risks being sued by the disciplined employee for defamation.
If you have been falsely accused of violence and you are in a process of undergoing investigation, it's crucial that you comply with investigation, convey your side of the story in a clear and credible way and above all - show that you are not angry at anyone - you are not angry at the accuser, the investigator or the employer, and you do not wish harm upon anyone. In other words, if you want to maximize your chances of keeping your job, you have to communicate to the investigator and your employer that by your own nature you are a good worker and that whatever you are accused of is very unlikely to have happened.
Making an impression of a calm, rational, respectful and a non-confrontational person will help your employer justify the decision to believe you, take your side and not take any adverse employment action against you more than many other factors.
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