All in the Family
A Compliance Case Study
This month, we bring you a two-fer! Or, you might say…”twin” case studies, because we’re focusing on conflicts of interest that can exist when members of the same family work together.
Scenario #1
The People:
Maryam – A technician in the VCU School of Medicine’s Pharmacology Lab
Rafael – Another tech in the lab, Maryam’s colleague and friend
Patricia – Another tech in the lab
Paul – Pharmacology Department Administrator and Patricia’s brother
The Setting:
A bench outside the VCU Health Sciences Research Building, and the pharmacology lab
The Event:
It’s a sunny day and Maryam and Rafael are sitting on a bench while enjoying a cup of coffee during their lunch break.
Maryam: Well, you know he’s her brother, right?
Rafael: Who?
Maryam: Paul – our Admin. He’s Patricia’s brother.
Rafael: Really??? And he processes her timesheet? That doesn’t seem right.
Maryam: I know! That’s what I’m saying. She’s able to get away with sleeping on the job and not coming in because her big brother makes Payroll think she’s here and working when she’s not.
Rafael: Yeah, like last week she wasn’t here but I never saw her put a leave request on the calendar.
Maryam: Exactly. And you know when she is here, sometimes she’s not at her desk; sometimes she’s in the computer room with her head down…
Rafael: Wow…..I don’t think Paul should be allowed to process her time. Isn’t that a conflict of interest?
Maryam: Uh-huh. Especially since nobody else gets any special treatment.
Rafael: Truth.
Later that day, back in the lab, Rafael walks into the computer room and sees Patricia in a chair with her head down. “This really isn’t fair to the rest of us,” he thinks to himself, “I think I’m going to say something.” He calls the VCU Helpline to report his suspicions that a conflict of interest exists because Paul is falsifying payroll to cover for his sister’s naps in the computer room and numerous days off.
Scenario #2
The People:
Alvin Rabinowitz – Ph.D. Program Coordinator in the VCU School of Social Work
Dr. Carly Simmons – Director, Graduate Studies and Alvin’s supervisor
Dr. Abigail Sheen – Dean, VCU School of Social Work, and Alvin’s mother
Dr. Nathan Hines – Division Chair, VCU School of Social Work
The Setting:
Dr. Hines’ office
The Event:
Dr. Hines sits at his desk, looking over the completed performance reviews for the employees in the School of Social Work.
Dr. Nathan Hines: Okay….down to the last few names on the list….Rabinowitz, Alvin (He pulls-up Alvin’s review on his laptop). Looks like you had a great year, Alvy. Met all of your goals……Good job! Just double-checking for signatures……Oh. Wait. Why did Abigail sign off on Alvy’s performance review? Ugh……Better call Abigail.
(He picks up the phone and dials)
Dr. Abigail Sheen: Hello?
Nathan: Abigail – Hi, it’s Nathan. Listen, can you come down to my office for a second?
Abigail: Of course! Be right there!
(A moment later, Abigail knocks on Nathan’s office door)
Abigail: Hi! What’s up?
Nathan: Hi! Please, have a seat. Listen, Abigail, I’ve been approving the performance reviews and I just looked at Alvy’s. It looks like you signed off on his.
Abigail: Yes, that’s right.
Nathan: You can’t do that; you’re his mother. That’s a conflict of interest, Abigail.
Abigail: Oh, right. (She winces) Yeah, you’re right. (Pause) I knew that, I guess I wasn’t thinking – I was just trying to help because his supervisor was out and we had to get those turned in by Friday. I didn’t DO his review – I know better than that – I only signed off on it.
Nathan: Yes, but we have to think about the optics. Someone might look at this and think that Alvy received a good rating on his performance review because his mother gave it to him, and that’s a problem. In fact, it’s possible that someone has already seen this and is thinking that’s what happened. Okay…Well, we need to fix this. Hang on, let’s call HR and see what they think we should do.
Nathan speaks with Human Resources, who directs him to delete Abigail’s signature and forward Alvy’s review to Dr. Simmons, Alvy’s supervisor, for her signature. Later, the Integrity and Compliance Office contacts Nathan to speak about Alvin Rabinowitz’s performance review. It seems an anonymous caller reported a conflict of interest based on Alvy’s mother signing-off on his review.
The Takeaway: In both scenarios, the potential for a conflict of interest existed, because members of the same family worked in close proximity, and one member of the family appeared to be in a position of power over the other. While members of the same family are not forbidden from working together at VCU, there should never be a situation where one member reports directly to another. A direct report would rely on their supervisor for work assignments, vacation approval and performance reviews, so if that supervisor was a family member there would be a conflict of interest. This is why family relationships are disclosed when employees apply for jobs with VCU – we must ensure that we are never creating a situation where conflict of interest might exist.
In Scenario #1, Maryam and Rafael made assumptions based on what they knew, and Rafael reported what he perceived to be a conflict of interest. Upon investigating, the ICO found the claim to be unsubstantiated. What Maryam and Rafael did not know (because it was confidential) was that while Patricia and Paul were, in fact, siblings, Patricia had a medical condition that required frequent breaks and remote work days. What Maryam and Rafael chalked up to Patricia sleeping on the job and skipping work days was actually Patricia following doctor’s orders, with VCU’s cooperation. And another thing that Maryam and Rafael didn’t know was that because management knew that Patricia and Paul were siblings, they had already ensured that Paul was not the person who processed Patricia’s timesheets.
In Scenario #2, because Abigail is Alvy’s mother, it was a conflict of interest for her to sign-off on his performance review. It could look to the outside world like Abigail showed Alvy favoritism that other employees being reviewed did not receive. The ICO found this case to be partially substantiated, because even though Abigail forgot about protocol while trying to help, she did ultimately sign-off on her son’s performance review, and that violates policy. Her sanctions included verbal counseling.
So, were Rafael and the anonymous caller doing the right thing when they called the Helpline to report what they thought were conflicts of interest? Absolutely; because for every case the ICO investigates that is unsubstantiated, there are plenty more that are substantiated. And in order to maintain VCU as a place where people want to work, we have to investigate all concerns; concerns about conflicts of interest and people showing favoritism to family members they work with, and all the things we have questions about from day to day. It’s a testament to how much some within our community love working for VCU that they invite their relatives to work here, too. And as long as we follow the guidelines, there’s no reason why they can’t keep it all in the family.
The names and details used in these case studies were changed to protect the people involved in the actual cases we investigated.