Smack Down at the YMCA

This critical incident is about a personnel issue facing the Greater Burlington YMCA’s (GBYMCA) Senior Director of Human Resources, Michele O’Day. Tina White, one of the GBYMCA’s child care workers, showed up for work under the influence of drugs. Additionally, a bag of heroin fell out of the White’s pocket while at work. O’Day had to decide how to handle White in the short and long term. Should she be disciplined using the GBYMCA’s progressive discipline policy, referred to the GBYMCA’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP), or terminated immediately? As a grantee who had to comply with federal drug-free workplace regulations, O’Day also had to decide what actions she should take to make sure incidents like this do not happen again.