We caught one of our nonprobationary employees stealing whole crates of maintenance supplies. Do we really have to go through the whole progressive discipline process?
Reviewing the situation with designated senior management as well as a Human Resources advisor or university attorney is in order, but generally, in cases of gross misconduct — and stealing is definitely gross misconduct — an employee can be terminated without any previous warnings. In this case, putting the employee on investigative leave with pay while the matter is reviewed may be appropriate.
