Posted on 02/28/2006 3:41:57 AM PST by Ellesu
(Baton Rouge, Louisiana) Woman's Hospital is prepared to spend $25,000 to find the culprit behind an offensive workplace prank. The hospital has ordered two dozen employees to submit to DNA sampling to prove they're not guilty of committing the prank, or else be fired.
An employee of building operations came back from several weeks and found someone had put urine in his toolbox. It's not the kind of thing the hospital will stand for. In a memo to 25 employees of the affected department, it was written:
"...administration wants to know who did this and is willing to do whatever it takes, including DNA testing."
And since no one would confess to the urine in the toolbox incident, there will be DNA swab testing of the 25 employees. Those who refuse to test face the prospect of termination.
"We're fortunate to do this. The use of DNA testing seems like it's the logical next step in using technology to conduct sort of a workplace investigation," said Stan Shelton, Vice President of Human Resources at Woman's Hospital.
9 News spoke with one of the 25 employees, who said there is much concern regarding loss of jobs and privacy rights. But Shelton says there should be no fears in that respect. He says swab samples will be by number and not name, and that the DNA pattern will be examined only for identification purposes. The test samples will be returned.
Shelton says the swabbing of employees has passed its legal hurdles."We checked with our legal counsel first, and this is the next step in using technology to help solve a workplace incident," he said.
Attorney Jill Craft has worked with litigation involving swabs taken during the hunt for the serial killer and fought for the rights of those swabbed. It is Craft's opinion that the rights of the hospital employees are being violated.
"It's the intrusion by finding out what your DNA looks like, your unique pattern which, in my opinion, violates someone's right to privacy," said Craft.
But the hospital says it is on safe legal ground and will go forward with the testing. Shelton says the hospital is responsible to its employees and patients to make sure whoever did such an act is not part of the hospital's workforce. On the other hand, Craft believes the hospital may be foregoing standard investigative techniques, like fingerprinting, by moving a little to quickly with the use of human DNA as a common forensic tool, especially in a case like this one.
"In this world of technology there are tremendous shortcuts, but at what cost to society as a whole, and at what cost to these people?" asks Craft.
The testing will commence as soon as test swab kits come in later this week. Testing will be done by Reliagene Technologies in New Orleans.
As for these 25 employees that have been singled out, Shelton tells 9 News that it's possible someone outside of the group could have had access to the department or the toolbox. Shelton say a lot of contract employs working on the site could have had access. He admits even with the testing, the real culprit might not be found. He wasn't sure what a next step would be in that event.
Oh Pee lease!!!!!!!!
This must have been someone high up the ladder's brother or sister or they would have just told them to clean their toolbox out and get over it.
-Eric
DNA testing is not exactly cheap. I think this is a waste of hospital money not to mention that it is an invasion of privacy.
"Urine trouble now..."
Was it a container of urine, or was the box urinated into.
It might prove to be from a dog.
Pehaps there will be a leak in the case. :)
LOL!!
Can you spell o-v-e-r-r-e-a-c-t-i-o-n?
Reminds me of the time 25 years ago when someone dropped a deuce in a coworker's lunchbox. We all knew who did it, as he was due to be layed off the next day.
I agree, but think again.
In a hospital?
They would have been really stupid to use their own!
Want to bet it was a sample lifted from the lab after it was tested?
OPEN LETTER TO THE PEE-PEE BANDIT:
Take the damn test. The hospital is bluffing. There is no way there is usable DNA if urine has been sitting in a toolbox for a week.
Take the test. If they try to pin it on you, fight it in court. No way the hospital wins this one. But if you refuse the test, your automatically screwed.
Oh, and BTW, knock it off with the urine in the toolboxes, willya? You never know when one of your co-workers is going to be humor challenged and run crying to management.
Or taken from a catheterized patient's pee bottle.
maybe it was a "U R A Peein" (European) tool box.
My first thoughts went to "was it one of the illegal invader workers"? They are notorious for peeing anywhere, when they feel the need.
Man, I'd be pissed off if I found some tool had peed in my tool box. However, I think the hospital is pissing in the wind with this. It's like killing a pissant with a sledge hammer(a really big tool). If I were those employees I'd tell them to piss off.
Gotta go now. Tool Time is coming on.
It could be from one of the hospital patients....
It would be like dumping ammonia in the box, it would corrode tool steel and destroy electronics. It would be hard to laugh over the loss of hundreds of dollars worth of tools.
Hey if someone gave me $25,000 to pee in a coworkers lunchbox I'd do it in front of my supervisor.
Peeing for dollars, woo hoo!!!!!!!!!
Twenty five grand gives me a year to find a job where I don't want to pee in someone's lunchbox.
That's a plus, I figure.
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