Colorado Business Litigation Lawyer Blog

A person who had worked for 26 years for the Community Hospital Association in Boulder, Colorado, was fired and denied unemployment compensation after admittedly taking remnants of toilet paper rolls that she believed to be trash, found on the floor and on a shelf above the toilet paper holders. The employee had been asked by a friend to collect the remnants so they could be sent to GI’s in Iraq, who needed small rolls that would fit in a pocket for use on missions. The employer said they had a zero policy on theft and fired the employee.

The employee applied for unemployment benefits. The employer, who had no written policy on theft, said that the coreless toilet paper rolls were purchased so they could be used almost to the end. The hearing officer found that the claimant had believed that the remnants she had taken were trash, but that the remnants nevertheless belonged to the employer, and taking them without the employer’s authorization constituted theft and disqualified the employee from benefits. The Industrial Claim Appeals Office upheld the hearing officer’s decision.

On appeal to the Colorado Court of Appeals, the court reviewed numerous Colorado and other states’ decisions on similar issues and decided after extensive analysis that the case must bee remanded to the hearing officer for a finding of whether or not the employee acted “intentionally” and “knowingly” (legal words of art) without a belief that the remnants she took were trash.

Frankly, I am astounded that the state would expend the time and money on a case like this, especially given the end use of the toilet paper (no pun intended). If further developments in the Industrial Claim Appeals Office are publicly reported, I will write further on the final decision.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) have established an electronic system called E-Verify (formerly the Basic Pilot/Employment Eligibility Verification Program) to assist employers further in verifying the employment eligibility of all newly-hired employees. As most businesses with federal contracts know, effective September 8, 2009, compliance with the E-Verify system became mandatory. Executive Order 12989 mandates the electronic verification of all employees working on any federal contract. The amended Executive Order reinforces the policy that the federal government supports a legal workforce. In short, E-verify is mandatory if the prime contract for services or construction is more than $100,000 with a period of performance longer than 120 days. For subcontractors, the value of services or construction must exceed $3,000.

The E-verify system requires that employers run new hires, and existing employees hired after November 6, 1986, through the E-Verify system to determine the person’s eligibility to work in the U.S. E-Verify compares the information on the employees name, Social Security Number, date of birth, citizenship status, and any other non-citizen information provided.

As of October 12, 2009 there has already been close to 400,000 quires run through the system. E-Verify is an essential tool for employers committed to maintaining a legal workforce, and the number of registered employers is growing by over 1,200 per week.